China has announced to ban the burning of sulfurous coal in the next four months. For Australia this is bad news. Australia’s recent growth has been due the export of coal into the Asian market; the biggest buyer is China. China purchases around one third of Australia’s coal production which is “50 million metric tonnes of thermal coal” according to DW’s article. As China cuts back on the consumption of coal this will create room for a new economy to provide energy to China; potentially a greener source of energy. At the UN Climate summit it is expected that 50% of energy consumed in China will be clean by the year 2050 according to CCTV America.

Resources:

http://www.dw.de/china-tackles-air-pollution-with-ban-on-sulfurous-coal/a-17925534

http://www.cctv-america.com/2014/09/23/china-investing-in-green-nuclear-technologies