China welcomes us to our future Armageddon

I sometimes hear the argument that China could effectively leapfrog over the West in developing sustainable energy and growth if its citizens get hooked on renewable power before they join the middle classes, and if its existing middle classes can learn to conserve energy before they can afford two cars. This doesn’t take “mianzi” into account. Money and physical possession are deeply ingrained in culture and religion.

Romance, China-style

I will agree with the leapfrog jump, though. As oil reserves worldwide are depleted and as economic hardship sets in, coal will be used as liberally elsewhere as it is here in China. Coal is plan B for our world economy, not solar, not wind, but a resource that is plentiful, that requires no new invention or technological breakthrough that will allow a continuation of economic growth.

We are all in the fix together. We purchase products manufactured in China every day, and I don’t know of any joint venture or production facility that would be established if it was only to be powered with wind or solar. Industry requires a constant, reliable power source and will settle for nothing less. Coal takes the lion’s share in the Land of Dragons, and it will continue to do so.

Everything you have heard about the high levels of pollution is true and becoming worse by the day.

Electricity demand is insatiable; the construction industry is barely able to keep up with demand; and pollution levels are expected to double or possibly triple by 2015. This is truly an un-believable statement: if it is true than there will be nothing left living in this part of the world.

As peak oil starts to affect our planet’s economy, what I see here, right now, is what the future holds for us worldwide. No government will let their country crash and burn economically if there is a viable alternative.

I present to you a vision of the future: China has already leapfrogged to where we in the West will be within a decade, using coal to power our economies and cities as conventional worldwide oil production continues to decline. The pollution is the sight and smell of economic growth.

Looking at the future in front of me, gazing from my downtown balcony holding my girlfriend’s hand, I think to myself, “Construction crane silhouettes in the smog at sunset. How romantic.”