China and India - energy usage
This article was adapted from The New York TImes and article written
by Keith Bradsher and David Barboza Published: June 11, 2006

Unless China finds a way to clean up its coal plants and the thousands of factories that burn coal, pollution will soar both at home and abroad. The increase in global-warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol seeks.

Already, China uses more coal than the United States, the European Union and Japan combined. And it has increased coal consumption 14 percent in each of the past two years in the broadest industrialization ever. Every week to 10 days, another coal-fired power plant opens somewhere in China that is big enough to serve all the households in Dallas or San Diego.

 

China is now looking to build power plants that are more efficient than older, more conventional coal fired power plants. A normal coal powered station will restrict it to converting 38 per cent of the chemical energy in coal into electricity.
Click to see energy conversion.
The new ultra- super-critical plant uses technology that superheats steam to 1,000 oC and makes the conversion of energy from chemical to electrical 44 per cent efficient.

But is this enough?
Read more on this report in The Australian in an article titled "Coal-fired power heats up in China " by Rowan Callick March 17, 2008

To make matters worse, India is right behind China in stepping up its construction of coal-fired power plants — and has a population expected to outstrip China's by 2030.

 

The article below is quoted from an article from www.bloomberg.com titled "World CO2-Emissions Growth Keeps Focus on Coal, China (Update5)" by Mathew Carr and Alex Morales 2008

China has called on richer countries to adopt more emission limits and to change their “unsustainable way of life,” arguing that they spewed the majority of accumulated gases over history and still pollute more per person.

The U.S. released 20.9 tons of emissions from oil, natural gas per person in 2008, compared with 5.2 tons in China, which has about 1.3 billion people.

Click to see the full graph on the right

Click for a more update version on 2010 figures which show Australia as the highest emitter per capita. From the TheAge Thursday 24 March 2011
Per capita, China is not even close to the major polluters who are the USA, Australia and Saudi Arabia. Argue against China's argument as written above?
Every ten to fourteen days China commissions a new coal fired power plant that is capable of providing power to a city approximately a third of the size of Melbourne. How many power plant are produced commissioned year year?
Even with a 6% improvement in efficiency in energy conversion in coal fire power station, why is China still considered a major player in the fight against carbon dioxide emissions?

What are the conversions in energy states from burning of coal to producing electrical energy?
When we convert energy from one state into another we incur loses.
- When chemical energy in coal is converted into heat energy where is energy lost from?
- How is energy lost in the generator when kinetic energy is converted into electrical?
Is nuclear more efficient? Explain.