Energy Economy Brings Change to Shepherd Life: Modernization Comes to the Dry Grasslands of Inner Mongolia

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Source: www.csrwire.com --- Friday, June 17, 2011
By Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue The northern city of Xilinhot is booming as the coal industry expands. But it will take a lot of water to feed both the city and mining. XILINHOT, INNER MONGOLIA--Wu Yun, 23, tucks in her mittens and pulls on furry boots to help her father feed the livestock, as a frigid blast of razor-sharp ice crystals -- some of them blackened from the dust of nearby open-pit coal mines -- rolls across the horizon, stopping only to swirl and tear at exposed flesh. She hunkers down, unlatches the gate and lets the sheep out to graze on the fragile, brown stubble. Wu Yun looks out over the plains, where in summertime she rides her stout horse above the rolling dust. Today the acerbic rasp of smoke from nearby coal-fired power plants winds through the air. On one side, yurts and lambs. On the other, 300-meter-high (1,000-foot-high) buttes made of tailings from Datan International Shengli Mine, China's largest brown coal mine, which officials say could become China's largest open-pit mine in a few years. Wu Yun, 23, stands on the plains of the Mongolian grasslands near Xilinhot, where in summertime she rides her stout horse over the rolling dust. Just 30 meters below her feet are the rich veins of coal that fuel a nation. Photo: ? J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue Brown coal, which has lower Energy content than black coal, is the fuel of choice in this part of Inner Mongolia. It is the power source for big electrical gener ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Csrlive/~3/LSVY8BJl-qY/4720-Energy-Economy-Brings-Change-to-Shepherd-Life-Modernization-Comes-to-the-Dry-Grasslands-of-Inner-Mongolia

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