China urgently needs to reverse coal dependency: Greenpeace

Greenpeace said Friday that China "urgently" needed to reduce its dependency on coal, saying the emissions produced by its use posed a major threat to public health in the fast-growing Asian nation.

"If China cannot swiftly reverse this dependency on coal and other fossil fuels in the near future... then it will be unable to solve the grave problem of air pollution threatening people's health," the environmental group said.

"China urgently needs to pursue a low-carbon sustainable development model," it added in a report released with the nation's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

The world's second-largest economy -- which overtook Japan in the second quarter -- relies on coal for 70 percent of its fast-growing energy needs, and coal combustion has become one of the nation's main sources of air pollution.

It is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world.

According to the report, coal combustion is the source of 70 percent of China's soot emissions and 80 percent of its world-leading carbon dioxide emissions.

The geographic reach of air pollution is also considerable, it added. Mercury pollution, for example, can travel more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from its emissions source, usually coal-fired power plants.

The report also found that air pollution from coal combustion could cause serious, long-term health problems, especially when pollutants are stored in the body's organs and build up over a period of time.

One case study in Tongliang township in the southwestern mega-city of Chongqing found that the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increased by 3.5 times whenever the coal power station was operating.

Exposure to PAHs has been linked to lung cancer and also to an increase in the incidence of babies born with poorly developed nervous systems, the report said.

The economic costs of pollution from coal combustion in China are also substantial. In 2005, every tonne of coal burned cost nearly 45 yuan (6.6 dollars) in health costs, it added.

The environmental group urged the government to widen the range of pollutants monitored and improve basic research on the links between public health and air pollution.