Urging China to cut down on its "severe" coal power overcapacity, a report on Wednesday said this could save enough water to meet annual needs of 27 million people in water-stressed areas.
However, China’s per capita water resources amount to only one-third of the global average.
According to the report, by 2020, more than 60 per cent of the coal power industry’s water consumption is projected to take place in areas of high water stress.
China is the world’s largest coal consumer, Greenpeace said.
"The proposed plan could reduce water consumption in the coal power sector by up to 500 million cubic metres in 2020 in high water-stressed areas," the report stated.
Greenpeace stated that if the expansion goes unabated, the coal power capacity in water stressed areas is projected to jump from 437 GW in 2016 to 527 GW in 2020.
"Targeted capacity cuts in regions with high water stress would free up water for human consumption and economically productive uses," said senior global coal campaigner Lauri Myllyvirta.
Based on the report’s findings, Greenpeace urges that China reduce excess coal power capacity in high water stress areas by 179 GW before the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period which ends in 2020.
kd/him/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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