In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy and most experts believe it will only be two or three decades before it becomes number one, officially making the U.S. it's bitch. As shown in a recent article by 24/7 Wall St, China has already surpassed the U.S. in a number of industries that America is traditionally considered to be the world leader - you can view them above. more ›

“Sandstorms can actually be called ‘coal dust storms’,” said Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner Dr. Sun Qingwei. “Coal ash is a very tiny and light particle, easily picked up by wind. Winds traveling at 8 meters per second can already disperse coal ash up to 150,000 square kilometers from their origins in open-air dumping sites. And winds in a sandstorm are even stronger, with speeds of at least 25 meters per second - thus they can spread coal ash much farther. This means that even people who live far from thermal power plants in eastern and southern China must face the threat of coal pollution at their doorstep.”

Last week, our neighboring Zhejiang Province shut down two 125MW generating coal-firing power plant units which had been in operation for 18 years. According to Huaneng Changxing Power Plant, the units did not comply with energy efficiency requirements. Replacing them will be two more efficient (if still, unfortunately, coal-fired) 600MW units. more ›

After overtaking the U.S. as the world's largest CO2 emitter last year, China has now overtaken them in energy use as well. According to the International Energy Agency, " China's rise to the top ranking was faster than expected as it was much less affected by the global financial crisis than the United States." more ›

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here). more ›

• Shell to Delay Alternative Energy Projects in China [WSJ] "Royal Dutch Shell PLC is delaying or dropping some alternative energy projects in China as too costly given current low oil prices, executives said Tuesday... because of the economic downturn Shell decided to postpone a joint venture Shenhua Group, China's top coal producer to turn coal into liquid fuel. Shell had conducted a feasibility study with Shenhua, China's biggest coal producer, to build a coal-to-liquid plant in the country's western Ningxia Autonomous Region."
• Chinese workers protest again over unpaid wages [AP] "Hundreds of workers at a textile factory in southern China blocked roads Tuesday, in a second day of protests over unpaid wages, an employee said. The protests come as a collapse in demand for Chinese exports has closed factories and wiped out at least 20 million jobs. Communist leaders worry that more job losses and unpaid wages could result in mass protests."
• Rare Fungi Sent Back to China [Cornell Sun] "In the 1920s, Shu Chun Teng was China’s premier expert on fungi after studying mycology at Cornell. To preserve Teng’s specimens from destruction following the 1937 Japanese invasion of China, 2,278 of the specimen packets were smuggled by ox cart to Indochina and then by sea to the United States, eventually arriving at Cornell in 1940" It is now being returned to China. Hoorah!

A new report commissioned by Greenpeace, the Energy Foundation and the WWF estimates that the environmental and social costs of China's coal usage hit RMB1.7 trillion last year, or about 7.1% of the country's GDP. Speaking on the report, Yang Ailun, Greenpeace's climate and energy campaign manager, urged the government to recognize “the true cost of coal [and] create incentives to develop cleaner, sustainable energy sources." more ›

As part of their "Toxic series" VBS TV took a trip to the "world's most polluted town", Linfen, in China's Shanxi province. In six episodes David Feinberg reports on a city that is experiencing the dark side of China's economic boom, in the form of massive pollution. more ›

Meanwhile, the Chinese have reduced exports by over eight percent, idled more than 60 coal plants and announced they will lower import tariffs on the commodity, all because of shortages. It’s more than foreign competition and transport prices the country has to worry about — energy supplies within the PRC are dwindling to dangerous lows. We in Shanghai got a taste of what such scarcity might mean when blackouts struck the scorched city earlier this month. more ›

36 coal miners are still trapped after a mine flooded at about 3.30pm yesterday at the Nadu Mine in the Guangxi region. Rescuers have since saved 13 people after 10 hours and 12 of the 36 still trapped are in contact with rescuers and are in safe places within the mine. These miners are reported to be about 2km from the mouth of the mine and rescuers are struggling to get water and food to them as they continue rescue efforts. more ›