Beijing Suffering from Polluted Air - Need to Find a Permanent Solution

[Ulrik]

Having cleaned up their skies for the Olympic games in 2008, China is once more suffering polluted skies and heavy smog. Whilst the government probably could deal with the with problem in the same way that they did four years ago, a more permanent solution needs to be found; such as cutting back on fossil fuel consumption, especially coal.

[The Oil Baron]

The only way for China to effectively clean up its polluted air is for it to reduce the amount of coal it burns. With time, and considering the rate that it installs renewable energy projects, coal will begin to play a smaller role and they will see the smog lift from their cities. There is no short term solution.

[ronwagn]

China is turning to natural gas as the main solution to pollution. Love how that rhymes. Solar and wind will help. They are, unfortunately, also going with nuclear. They will import from the Stans, Russia, Myanmar by pipelines, and they will import LNG from all LNG exporting LNG nations. They are hard bargainers, and will demand good prices. They will burn coal if good prices are not available. We should encourage them, by exporting natural gas at a good price and evening up our balance of trade with them. Americans should also attempt to buy products from other low priced providers. China now has quite a few competitors in many product lines. We need to slow the rate of their growing power and agressive moves in the South China Sea. Natural gas is a great geopolitical tool.

[KitemanSA]

China is working on developing Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTRs) which will be the final solution unless supplanted by fusion. LFTRs are the Leanest, Cleanest, Greenest form of reliable, proven energy bar none.