Greenpeace: China’s Coal Growth Could Trigger Water Crisis

Reuters reported that a Greenpeace environmental activists are warning against the triggering of a severe water crisis in the norther and western provinces of China, where rapidly expanding large coal mines and power plants are threatening to drain water supply.

As quoted in the press release:

Water demand created by this energy strategy, along with the development of coal-related industries in these area, will consume at least 9.98 billion cubic meters of water by 2015 – equivalent to one sixth of the annual total water volume of China’s largest Yellow River, Greenpeace said in a report on Tuesday.

Li Yan, Greenpeace’s East Asia Climate and Energy Campaign Manager, commented:

While energy can and is already being generated via renewable sources, the extinction of water is irreversible.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.