Coal surge comes too late for China's old mine towns
On the edges of an old and depleted mine in China's central Henan province, workers sift through dunes of low-grade coal, trying to extract every last calorie of energy.
The surplus coal is of low quality but local residents say they can sell it to small businesses.
"These are inferior coals which can be sold. I burn it and let it cool down, then I can sell it to a brick factory which burns them to make bricks."
An unexpected supply crunch in China has pushed coal prices up to record levels and given the industry a new short-term lease of life.
But it has come too late for old coal regions like this one in Pingdingshan, where production has been limited.
After a century of mining that has polluted water supplies and scarred the landscape, the region barely has any more coal to give.
The suppliers in Henan did try to churn out more coal as as prices rose this year but their efforts were abandoned after a series of accidents, including one that killed eight miners in June.
Elsewhere, in the northern region of Inner Mongolia output has increased by 420,000 tonnes since the beginning of October.
But experts say China's dependence on coal is part of the problem not the solution.
They argue that recent energy shortages prove the country's need to accelerate its transition to renewables.
Li Shou is a policy advisor at Greenpeace China.
"The root cause of this crisis is exactly China's heavy addiction on coal. So if there is a longer term mission in the energy planning in the Chinese context, that should propel the country to move away from its coal consumption to enhanced energy-efficiency measures."
Coal has been the focus of discussions at this year's climate conference in Glasgow.
More than 20 countries agreed to phase out coal power during the summit.
On Wednesday, China made its own pledge alongside the U.S., to ramp up cooperation tackling climate change, including phasing out coal, reducing methane emissions, and protecting forests.
相關影片推薦
- 1:38車停社區大門"1小時罰1萬" 擋道男遭判罰百萬民視影音41,615 次觀看・12 小時前
- 1:35高血壓男吃重鹹就愛"這道菜"淋醬油 腦中風險喪命民視影音251,685 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:47無主菜便當120元 獨老送餐服務被嫌太貴民視影音37,921 次觀看・12 小時前
- 3:03金鐘59/鄭元暢得獎喊話林心如是我偶像! 楊謹華槓龜7次忘謝「這群人」後台超驚慌Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音3,164 次觀看・7 小時前
- 2:57金鐘59/【盤點】金鐘59戲劇類紅毯最帥最美! 女神剪激短髮太性感...韓劇偶像也來了?Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音2,696 次觀看・9 小時前
- 2:31金鐘59/李銘順拜拜敲鐘!打敗弟弟「獎金給他」 許瑋甯贏了林依晨連莊奪獎Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音15,778 次觀看・8 小時前
- 2:02民眾黨聲援柯文哲! 柯美蘭哽咽:我要獨自面對爸爸生病民視影音4,325 次觀看・7 小時前
- 0:49一分鐘報天氣 / 週日 (10/20) 週末東北季風南下沿海陣風強 北部及東部留意山區大雨機會Yahoo奇摩新聞(報氣象)1,308 次觀看・12 小時前
- 5:55外國領袖搶見小英!蔡英文出訪歐洲三國 籲民主國家團結 下一個目的地:美國|全球聊天室|#鏡新聞鏡新聞1,476 次觀看・8 小時前
- 1:55陳幸妤投資台中上億豪宅 掛賣11年5度降價求售華視影音485,565 次觀看・3 天前
熱門必看
- 2:09【盤點】金鐘59戲劇得獎名單看這邊! 吳慷仁缺席典禮奪視帝 楊貴媚打敗賈靜雯等強敵獲獎Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音2,162 次觀看・6 小時前
- 3:03金鐘59/鄭元暢得獎喊話林心如是我偶像! 楊謹華槓龜7次忘謝「這群人」後台超驚慌Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音3,143 次觀看・7 小時前
- 2:31金鐘59/李銘順拜拜敲鐘!打敗弟弟「獎金給他」 許瑋甯贏了林依晨連莊奪獎Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音15,756 次觀看・8 小時前
- 1:52金鐘59迷你劇集男、女配角出爐 柯震東要把幸運紅內褲借給「她」Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音3,023 次觀看・8 小時前
- 2:57金鐘59/【盤點】金鐘59戲劇類紅毯最帥最美! 女神剪激短髮太性感...韓劇偶像也來了?Yahoo奇摩娛樂 電視影音2,681 次觀看・9 小時前