2013 was a bad air year for China, bookended with “airpocalypses” that left Chinese cities blanketed in thick smog for weeks. Much of the fine particulates that created this smog came from coal plant emissions, as the Chinese government approved the construction of more than 100 million tons of new coal production capacity last year, a sixfold increase over 2012. So although China is the world’s leading investor in clean energy technologies, coal remains king. But more than ever, pollution problems are threatening coal’s reign.
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