{"id":7485,"date":"2019-05-01T09:44:19","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T13:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/?p=7485"},"modified":"2022-06-16T11:31:39","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T15:31:39","slug":"environmental-impact-of-overseas-coal-fired-power-plants-financed-by-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/2019\/05\/01\/environmental-impact-of-overseas-coal-fired-power-plants-financed-by-china\/","title":{"rendered":"The Environmental Impact of China-financed Coal-fired Power Plants in South East Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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H\u1ed3 Ch\u00ed Minh, Vietnam. Photo by Tron Le via Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to <\/span>World Bank research<\/span><\/a>, about 1 billion people, roughly three times the population of the United States, still lack access to electricity. In poor countries where more sustainable electricity supply has the potential to foster higher economic growth, fossil fuel based power generation remains an attractive option. While multilateral development banks (MDBs) have \u2018greened\u2019 power-generation portfolios in the past decade, China recently became a major player, funding energy-related infrastructure in developing countries. While having the potential to alleviate energy poverty and fuel economic growth, coal-fired power plants can lead to serious environmental issues and potential health problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>new working paper<\/i><\/b><\/a> by <\/span>Yating Li<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Kevin P. Gallagher<\/span><\/a> examines the impact of Chinese financed coal plants on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions in four countries: India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines. Concerned about the environmental impacts and potential health problems from coal-fired power plants, Li and Gallagher compare the pollution of China-financed coal plants to other coal plants in the region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main findings:<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n