Mongolia, one day, hopes to export more than just coal to neighboring China.
At a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold outlined plans to ramp up the country's investments in alternative energy and to export wind power to China--enough to equal 40 million tons of coal.
Mongolia
, one
day, hopes to export more than just coal to neighboring
China
.
At a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold outlined plans
to ramp up the country's investments in alternative energy and to export wind
power to
China
--enough
to equal 40 million tons of coal.
Mongolia
is
currently the fourth-largest coal exporter to
China
.
China
was a
net exporter of coal until last year, when rising domestic demand and a major
overhaul of mines in its
Shanxi
province prompted it to scour the Asian-Pacific region for available supply. Landlocked
Mongolia
's
largely untapped mineral and energy resources have been generating a lot of
interest. Its proximity to
China
--a
major customer for its iron ore, copper, coal and other commodities--has made
it even more appealing.
But mining, and the burning of coal, exacts an environmental toll that could
lead to financial hassles. "While
Mongolia
has a
lot of coal, it is a matter of time before coal-based power plants will become
subject to carbon penalties," said B. Bold, chief executive of Newcom
Group, an investment group in the process of building a wind-power-generation
plant in
Mongolia
.
The Mongolian government would like to use proceeds from the country's large
mining projects to subsidize solar, wind and other renewable energy projects. It
would also show preference to mining projects that demonstrate efficient water
use, government officials said.
Cabinet members discussed these and other environmental issues at a special
cabinet meeting last week in the
Gobi
desert, hoping to focus on sustainable development as well as desertification. About
70% of
Mongolia
is
considered to be affected by desertification, a problem caused in part by the
overabundance of grazing livestock (more than half of
Mongolia
's 3
million people are nomadic).
Increased water use in the country has caused many rivers and lakes to dry up,
causing water shortages and wreaking havoc on local ecosystems. Autumn winds
carry dust from the
Gobi
to
Beijing
and
other Chinese cities every year, a problem that won't improve if more and more
Mongolian land changes into desert.
Cabinet members, dressed in suits, hats and sunglasses, trekked to a sandy
locale in the middle of the desert, where temperatures were a balmy 30 degrees
Celsius, according to one government attendee.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:58
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:54
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:32
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:27
Τρι, 17 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 20:01