China Loves Coal
The Chinese coal mining industry is dirty and deadly, both for workers and the environment. But without new sources of energy, how can the nation's economy grow? View photographer Christian Als' gallery of the coal-fueled life in poverty-stricken Shanxi Province.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Shanxi Province is China’s main coal-producing region, in a country that mines and produces far more coal than any other nation on earth. Coal mining, coal processing, and coal-fired power plants keep the people of Shanxi employed and supply most of China’s energy needs.
The province is infamous for bad working conditions in coal mining, and more than 5000 workers die every year . It is also one of the most environmentally dangerous places in the world. “China Loves Coal” is a journey through some of the most industrialized landscapes on earth.
Coal workers wait for jobs in downtown Taiyuan.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Residents of Shanxi Province live within a dirty, industrial landscape.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Of China’s ten most polluted cities, four are in Shanxi Province. The coal-mining operations have damaged waterways and scarred the land.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
A coal mine accident in Shanxi Province.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
A mine accident survivor in the hospital. China produced 35 percent of the world’s coal in 2008, but reported 80 percent of the total deaths in coal mine accidents. Coal mining has become the deadliest job in China.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
China's carbon emissions are increasing faster than that of every other country in the world.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Coal accounts for 70 percent of China's energy production, according to government statistics.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Every week, China builds two large power stations. The worker death rate for every 100 tons of coal is 100 times of that in the American coal mining industry.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. China contributes one-sixth of the world’s sulfur pollution.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Coal industry analysts say as many as 90 percent of small coal mines should be closed for safety reasons.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
A bar on the Taiyuan-Linfen Highway in Shanxi Province.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
A closed down restaurant on the Taiyuan-Linfen Highway in Shanxi Province.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
China's population of 1.3 billion is about four times larger than that of the U.S., but each Chinese citizen uses about 25 percent of the energy consumed by his or her American counterpart.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
Chinese families are poorer, and consume much less. But the standard of living is improving. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency says China's carbon emissions had risen by 9 percent in 2008, compared with 1.4 percent in the U.S.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
China is choking on its own success. The economy is on a historic run, posting a succession of double-digit growth rates. But the growth derives from a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization, which require colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available--and the dirtiest--source.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
A high rise in downtown Jiexiu.
Christian Als / Berlingske Media
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