ARCHIVE

Greenpeace report highlights Hong Kong pollution

EMISSIONS from new coal plants in China's most populous province and neighboring Hong Kong could ...

Staff Reporter
Greenpeace report highlights Hong Kong pollution

Greenpeace said 11 coal-fired power plants are under construction in the region, with 11 more planned.

“The cumulative impact of these new power plants on human health is simply shocking," Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Zhou Rong said.

“The Pearl River Delta region should strictly enforce the policy of no more new coal-fired and oil-fired power plants, as announced in 2009.”

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has made cleaning up the city’s skies a priority since air pollution began worsening around 2007.

The issue has become topical in China of late, with high levels of air pollution raising health concerns and igniting a discussion about coal-fired power in a nation historically hungry for the fuel.

According to the report, the 96 existing power plants in the Guangdong region caused nearly 3600 premature deaths and 4000 cases of asthma in children in 2011 due to high concentrations of the fine air particulate PM2.5.

“Simply pushing the construction of power plants to neighboring cities outside the Pearl River Delta region will not solve this problem,” Zhou said.

“All cities of Guangdong and Hong Kong are interdependent in terms of air quality as well as public health.

“The only way to eliminate the health impacts associated with coal burning is to set a clear-cut coal reduction target and to jointly develop renewable energy to meet power demands.”

In early August, the planned construction of a coal-fired plant in Shenzhen was met with strong civil opposition.

The project was eventually cancelled in response to the objections put forward by 43 Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress deputies.

Shenzhen Energy Group has said it will choose another more suitable site outside of Shenzhen for construction.

The Greenpeace research was conducted in conjunction with US air pollution expert Dr H Andrew Gray, the principal of air quality research consulting firm Gray Sky Solutions. Gray has more than 30 years of experience in performing air quality modeling and analyses.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production