International Opinions
See also: Debate over China's economic responsibilities for climate change mitigationIn October 2008, Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, and The Energy Foundation published The True Cost of Coal, a report that said that by-products of coal burning such as water pollution, air pollution and human costs such as mining deaths are costing China an additional 1.7 trillion yuan per year, or more than 7% of GDP. They recommended that China increase the price of coal by a tax of 23% to reflect the true costs of China's reliance on coal.
Other commentators have pointed out that China has been taking a role as a leader in making use of coal as an electricity source more clean and responsible. For instance, the country built new ultra-supercritical coal plants (~44% efficiency) before the United States. While the average efficiency of the coal fleet in China remains less than that of the US, the gap is quickly closing. China has required companies building new plants to retire an old plant for every new one built.
Read more about this topic: Coal Power In The People's Republic Of China
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