Experts to consider coal-burning stoves for Mongolia

[phantom power]

Evidently, because what they're burning now is even worse. Notice who is doing the study, and their description at the end.

The Korea Mine Reclamation Corp. (MIRECO) said the mission will determine if providing 40,000 coal stoves would help reduce air pollution in the land-locked country.

(...)

Experts said Mongolia is struggling to cope with pollution, particularly in the capital Ulan Bator because residents burn tires, low-quality coal and other materials that release large qualities of pollutants into the atmosphere.

"Emphasis will be placed on determining the seriousness of pollution, actual prices of coal briquets and production capability in the country, and whether or not residents like using it to fuel their stoves," he added.

(...)

MIRECO, founded in 2006, formulates policies to help the environment recover from mining and burning of fossil fuel.

http://www.kois.go.kr/News/News/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20080302006

[GliderGuider]

1. Compared to burning tires, even coal looks green, I guess

Jesus, what a choice...

[phantom power]

2. It's not hard to guess how this went down.

You have a city of people who are so poor that they burn tires. Any fuel that's cleaner than coal:

a) requires a different kind of stove, which they almost certainly can't afford to purchase.

b) requires electricity or gas, which in turn requires utility infrastructure they probably don't have.


But coal is affordable enough to consider, and if you can burn tires, you can burn coal, without having to purchase a new stove. And anybody who's ever seen what comes out of a tire fire knows that coal is a no-brainer, from a pollution perspective.

QED.

[speedbird]

3. consider Haiti

is it better to cut down a forest,
(I would assume garbage/tires/etc is already burned)

or burn coal?

[hunter]

4. Haiti - Dominican Republic boarder deforestation

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002600/a002640/index.html

In Haiti everything gets burned or eaten.