Solutions to China’s pollution exist, but where’s the political will to implement them?

As winter tightens its grip and poisonous smog again blankets many cities, the earlier optimism in the fight against air pollution has turned to despair once more. Air pollution, like many other ills that plague China today, is usually marketed to the people as an inevitable by-product of economic development. But system failures, rather than development per se, are the real reason for the choking air.

READ MORE: Most Chinese cities fail air quality standards in 2015 – Greenpeace

Burning coal is the No 1 source of air pollution. This is quite strange when one considers that Germany consumes more coal per capita than China, and the worst kind – brown coal – to boot. Why don’t people hear about terrible pollution in Germany? The truth is that modern thermal power plants can be equipped to keep pollution to a minimum. We are not talking about carbon dioxide here, which is not a local pollution issue and must be handled in the global context. Modern Chinese thermal power plants are technologically world-class. If operated appropriately, they can keep pollution to a minimum.

China’s pollution is mainly due to where the coal is burnt rather than how much is used. Power plants account for less than half of coal consumption. The amount of coal burnt for energy is about the same elsewhere as in power plants. For example, cement kilns, aluminium smelters and steel mills usually burn coal to produce their own power rather than getting it from the grid. Burning coal for heating in winter is another significant source.

If China wants to improve the environment quickly, it must shift all coal burning for energy to power plants. This would make good sense in the current environment of overcapacity. China’s power plants saw their capacity utilisation rate drop by 7.5 per cent in the first three quarters of last year. It was probably a lot worse in the last quarter. In 2016, the decline will be even more severe. If coal burning was moved to power plants, it would use up the existing capacity. There would be limited additional cost for the economy as a whole.

The problem is that many factories pay little or nothing for their coal consumption. They sometimes get free coal mines as part of their investment. Hence, they resist paying for electricity. This distribution issue is holding back the fight for clean air. China has a very powerful central government. Unfortunately, when its power is needed to resolve such issues, it becomes powerless.

Vehicle emissions are the second serious source of pollution, especially in large cities. Commercial vehicles that burn diesel contribute disproportionately. Despite claims to the contrary by Chinese energy companies, the diesel made in China is too dirty to use in developed economies.

A quick solution would be to shift commercial vehicles to natural gas. It would involve a limited number of vehicles and could achieve a big difference quickly. Unfortunately, politics is working the other way. While the natural gas price has collapsed elsewhere, it is still sky-high in China, because Chinese energy companies signed supply deals at high prices and are sticking to them to pass the losses to consumers. As China’s oil price is more responsive to international prices, there has been a shift to oil from gas, which is terrible for the environment.