The Taihu Lake Crisis

Before even reading the article, I was curious about where Taihu Lake was. I'm still not very clear, but a page from an online tour guide seemed to explain it vaguely well. But then google maps solved the mystery.

It sounds like the government (of this area at least) is cracking down on industry. And some industry is actually trying to improve. Hopefully this will lead to actual improvement rather than a crash of industry in favor of less expensive industries. (Wow, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense...)

Anyway, it's good to see that there's improvement being attempted.

Solar Energy Firms Leave Waste Behind in China

With an entirely ironic article, the Washington Post has written about the pollution caused by solar energy firms in China.

To sum it up: "Green" industry in China is responsible of blatant pollution. Instead of dealing with the highly toxic byproducts of the silicon used in Solar Panels, they're just dumping it on the ground in the nearby town. It's dangerous to humans, prevents plants from growing, and is just some really nasty stuff.

"Shi, chief executive of Pro-EnerTech, a start-up polysilicon research firm in Shanghai, said that there's such a severe shortage of polysilicon that the government is willing to overlook this issue for now." (page 2). That's just wrong. The government (and the people) should be doing something about it.

"Made from the Earth's most abundant substance -- sand -- polysilicon is tricky to manufacture. It requires huge amounts of energy, and even a small misstep in the production can introduce impurities and ruin an entire batch. The other main challenge is dealing with the waste. For each ton of polysilicon produced, the process generates at least four tons of silicon tetrachloride liquid waste." (page 2) That means that 80% of their production is hazardous waste, and they're not disposing of it safely. EIGHTY PERCENT of what they create is thrown out into the environment to kill plants and sicken people.

Instead of whining about how they can't go outside because of the pollution, they need to do something about it. The people in China collectively outnumber their governmental officials. They can force the government's hand.

China's Hottest New Export: Storms of Deadly Pollution

In this article from the UK Guardian as well as one from Environmental Graffiti, we discover that dust storms in China pollute Korea.

Interesting. How does this work?

Dust storms start in the Gobi Desert, pick up pollutants on their way East, and cross the Yellow Sea to Korea. Poor Korea, they don't even get to kill themselves, the Chinese are already making sure they die of poison.

"Though the storms have been occurring for many years, they have increased in both toxicity and frequency in recent years. Some have blamed this on global warming effects, but a more likely explanation is China’s rise as an economic and industrial powerhouse." (environmentalgraffiti.com)

It's apparently responsible for the deaths of about 165 Koreans per year. Ironically, the same winds which sent these storms East to Korea have apparently cleared up the air around Beijing.