Posted on 01/27/2008 6:09:48 PM PST by Flavius
China is experiencing an acute power shortage with a nationwide electricity shortfall at 70 gigawatts, the equivalent of almost Britains entire generating capacity.
State media has described the crisis as Chinas worst-ever power shortage. With coal prices soaring and supplies disrupted by some of the most severe winter weather in years, it is certainly the most acute since 2004 when demand outstripped supply by 40 gigawatts. A rush for individual generators and to buy diesel to fuel them sent state firms into the international markets, provoking a spurt in crude oil prices.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
China ping!
like a bigger cart or something? ;)
How about installing generators in their underground coal fires that they can’t put out?
January 20, in Jinping County in the southeast of Guizhou suffered electricity workers repair power facilities frozen disasters. Due to continued large-scale Xue-ning FU weather, Guizhou Province Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in the Carey grid frozen in serious disasters, the local electricity sector has taken urgent measures to ensure stable operation of power grids.
— Beijing on January 25 (Xinhua Huang credentials) in the rain and snow-cool weather and a shortage of electricity supply multiple factors squeezed, and a tense situation on the electricity supply suddenly hit aroused strong public concern. Up to now, China’s central, eastern and southern especially in Hunan, Guizhou, a region one after another coal inventories fell, the shortage of electricity supply has been more than 10 provincial power grids in electricity power limitation.
Al Gore tells us this is impossible.
Just tossing out random thoughts here...
lol. good idea.
safety first -china style (funny pic. i hope the guy isn’t dead)
His highness Al and his Branch Algorians will not be happy with this news! This is more evidence of Climate Change!
And it get better...
Beijing aggravate the problem of an aging population by 17 percent to Seniors
The elderly population on the social security system will become more and more pressure.
According to the latest at the end of 2007, the elderly population in Beijing reached 2.36 million, an increase of 2006 than 340,000, the proportion of the elderly population as high as 15%.
Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau spokesman Guoxusheng warned that this ratio will continue to rise in future, the capital of China’s social security system will become even greater pressure.
Guoxusheng said that the Beijing elderly population simply because the reasons for the increase in average life expectancy. As of the end of 2007, the average life expectancy of Beijing for 80.2 years old.
Beijing Aging Committee issued a report last year, the city’s ageing population is forecast to Beijing in 2050 will be further increased to 6.5 million people, or one of every three residents are elderly.
Guoxusheng said that Beijing is considering granting a “pension Certificates,” so that the elderly receive free medical services and home economics, and in 2010 increased 50,000 nursing home beds.
According to him, Beijing last year spent on the construction and renovation of nursing homes for the 11.7 million yuan of funds.
“China Daily” quoted researcher at the Beijing People’s University of China said that Yang Hui, social labor ageing population will pose a burden, when the city needs a large number from the periphery of the introduction of the new Lijun, would cause a population explosion.
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics recently released data that, as at the end of 2007, Beijing has a population of up to 16.33 million people, an increase of 2006 over 520,000 people.
This situation is coming here in ten years. The rats and their enviro allies are determined to stop development of new coal and nuke plants. The renewable plants will not meet the growing demand for power. Unless the rats are playing chicken and blink, we will have substantial power shortages in 10 years.
Here are photos from earlier today showing Global Warming in China:
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?&langpair=zh-CN%7Cen&u=http://plus.cz001.com.cn/view.php%3Faid%3D94616
http://blog.hjenglish.com/nunu_lee/articles/358937.html
China has ended coal shortages, says BP energy review.
ChinaÂs coal shortages have been resolved, and last year the countryÂs coal production and consumption were in balance, according to BPÂs review of world energy markets, published yesterday.
Coal continues to be the worldÂs fastest-growing energy source, outpacing oil and gas, according to BP. This reflects the rising price of gas, which has made coal more cost-effective for generating electricity, and the growing demand for energy from China, which has large coal reserves.
China is the worldÂs second largest consumer of energy after the US, and is the biggest producer and consumer of coal.
BP said that China accounted for 80 per cent of the growth in world demand for coal in 2005. Chinese coal consumption rose by 11 per cent last year, while its coal production rose by 10.3 per cent. China produced slightly more coal than it consumed.
Peter Davies, chief economist at BP, said that China had Âresolved the shortage of coal for power generation seen in 2004, and was also now the worldÂs largest producer of hydroelectric power, following the opening of the Three Gorges dam.
Thanks to the China effect, growth in demand for coal grew faster than demand for gas in 2004 and 2005. Consumption of gas rose by 2.3 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in 2004, reflecting the disruption to gas supplies caused by last yearÂs hurricanes in the US, and the fact that high gas prices had hit demand, said BP.
Growth in oil consumption in 2005 was also weak, up 1.3 per cent compared with more than 2.8 per cent in 2004.
BP said that global oil reserves rose by about 0.5 per cent, below the average rate for the last 10 years of about 1.7 per cent, and down on? the average of 3.3 per cent growth for the 10 years between 1985 and 1995. BP estimated that the world had less than 41 years worth of oil consumption left. But Lord Browne added that improvements in oil recovery techniques would yield more reserves.
posted on 2006-06-29 13:43
Don’t we export coal to China?
They’re getting a head start on cleaning up the air for the Olympics!
I suspect China will raise some dust AFTER the Olympics though!
Wither Taiwan?
China Plagued by Power Shortages
By Stephanie Ho
Beijing
23 January 2008
China is facing a serious power shortage throughout the country, amid tight coal supplies. VOA’s Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.
A vendor delivers coal briquettes which are mostly used to fuel small coal burners for heating and cooking for low-income homes and restaurants, in an old hutong neighborhood in Beijing, 26 Dec 2007
A vendor delivers coal briquettes which are mostly used to fuel small coal burners for heating and cooking for low-income homes and restaurants, in an old hutong neighborhood in Beijing (File)
It is a cold winter in most of China, an especially bad time for a power shortage.
One of the main reasons for the outages is that there is not enough coal in the country. Coal-fired power plants provided about 83 percent of China’s electricity output in 2007.
Henry Li - an analyst with Hong Kong investment bank Core Pacific-Yamaichi - says the main problem is a shortage in coal, which is burned to create electricity.
“Due to the surging production costs of thermal coal, and the excess in thermal coal demand, the thermal coal prices has risen substantially, last year,” he said.
Li says the supply shortages have been exacerbated by the government’s closure of small, independent coal mines.
Another problem is that snow and sleet have hampered coal transportation.
Chinese state media are reporting a nationwide power shortfall of 70 gigawatts, which is equivalent to the entire generating capacity of Britain. As a result, brownouts (lowered voltages) have hit at least 13 provinces.
“China Electric Power News” says an intermittent blackout that started earlier this week in the central city, Wuhan, is the city’s worst since 1997. Other affected areas include the manufacturing hub, Guangdong, and the coal heartland, Shanxi.
The Chinese government has maintained a tight cap on electricity prices. Experts have predicted this could lead to shortages, as producers find it costs more to produce coal than they can receive by selling it.
Li says he thinks Chinese leaders will continue to keep a lid on energy prices until after the middle of the year, because they are more concerned with controlling rising inflation. He says the problem of energy shortages could still get worse before it gets better.
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