The media criticizes Shenhua Ningmei for using hundreds of thousands of tons of water from the Yellow River daily without releasing a single drop: Can you believe it?

Approved as a flagship project, the claim that \"zero emissions are just nonsense\" – The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base is built on the Ningdong coal field in the Hetao Plain; it is planned to cover an area of 3,484 square kilometers, spanning multiple counties and cities in Ningxia. Of this area, 282 square kilometers fall within the Baijitan National Nature Reserve and the Baijitan Forest Farm. Among them, in addition to multiple coal mines, there are also dozens of enterprises involved in coal-based power generation, coking, coal-to-methanol production, coal-to-olefins production, oil refining, calcium carbide production, and electrolytic aluminum production. Currently, in ecologically fragile areas and those where the emission of certain pollutants is subject to strict restrictions, such dilemmas and solutions are becoming increasingly common: when the total industrial output reaches a certain level, the environment can no longer accommodate that much pollution, which means that new polluting industries cannot be established. This in turn means that an increase in industrial GDP, which often amounts to tens or even hundreds of billions, is not possible, thus hindering what is considered “development” based on GDP metrics... In such situations, in order to overcome these barriers to development, local authorities and enterprises opt for zero-emission strategies in order to gain more room for growth. Since the end of 2014, due to the precious nature of water resources in the Yellow River and its limited capacity to handle pollutants, the wastewater discharge outlet at Dahezigou in the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base was shut down, and industrial wastewater is no longer allowed to be discharged into the Yellow River. Prior to this, multiple projects from various companies had been approved for construction with \"zero wastewater discharge\" as a requirement. Even enterprises that are not “zero-emission” are required to treat and reuse wastewater in order to achieve “zero emissions”. For small enterprises that lack the technical capabilities to implement ‘zero-emission’ systems on their own, the base management committee handles the construction of such zero-emission facilities. “Zero emissions are impossible! ”“Zero emissions are all nonsense! ”Xie Kechang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and one of the pioneers in the field of coal chemical technology in China, who was involved in the review of the planning report for the Ningdong facility, repeated the word \"impossible\" seven or eight times. He emphasized that the planning report for the Ningdong facility does not mention \"zero emissions,\" and it is impossible for any individual project to achieve \"zero emissions.\" He suggested that in the future, “feasibility reports” should no longer be prepared, but rather “infeasibility reports”. Xie Kechang has conducted research on the macro-level planning of coal industry bases. He found that in the \"energy triangle\" region in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, namely Ningdong, Ordos, and Yulin, each province has its own ideas and hopes to see its own area develop, but there is a high degree of homogenization in all these plans. Projects such as coal-to-methanol and olefins are being launched in various places. This could lead to overcapacity in the future. According to another expert on the Ningdong Base Expert Advisory Committee, there are numerous local coal chemical projects in the \"Energy Triangle\" region; under the environmental assessment and approval system, such projects should be approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, but in practice, the local authorities simply give their approval. It’s like trying to cover one’s ears while stealing a bell – the transfer of pollution cannot be stopped. In fact, whether it’s the air, water, or groundwater, the pollution situation in the Ningdong area is already evident. According to local official statistics, taking September to October 2014 as an example, the main pollutants in the industrial waste gases emitted by the Ningdong facility were sulfur dioxide at 8,596.3 tons, nitrogen oxides at 8,419.78 tons, and soot at 2,230.09 tons. Throughout the Ningdong industrial complex, the daily average air quality data show that the condition is generally good, with less than 5% of the time experiencing mild pollution. In the coal chemical industry park and the Linhe Industrial Park, however, the proportion of areas with mild pollution rises to over 10%, while the coal chemical industry park experiences 1.7% of areas with moderate pollution. The situation regarding water is even more severe. According to the monitoring conducted in September 2014 by the Ningdong Environmental Monitoring Station on the surface water in the Ningdong area, based on the minimum Class V standard for surface water, multiple monitoring sites showed levels that exceeded these standards. The quality of groundwater is also not optimistic. In response to the pollution pressures at the Ningdong facility, the local authorities have also taken a series of measures, including planning 73 environmental protection projects with a total investment of 5.8 billion yuan. A comprehensive quantitative control system has been established, with 340 monitoring stations in place to ensure 24/7 continuous monitoring of pollutants. Four automatic ambient air monitoring stations were also established, and pollutant emission standards for the thermal power industry that are stricter than **the standard were introduced, among other measures. Furthermore, it continues to clearly demand that enterprises achieve “zero discharge” of wastewater. A local official told a reporter from Nandu that the main challenge facing the development of the Ningdong base at present is the limited environmental capacity; however, the local authorities are taking proactive and responsible actions to address these challenges and overcome these difficulties. Another official from the environmental protection agency expressed great concern—“It’s not that the more daring people are, the more productive the land will be.” ”He said, “If we blindly set the goal of ‘zero emissions’ and expand the scale of industry in an unrealistic manner, then no amount of investment in environmental protection, no matter how advanced the environmental technologies or how strict the environmental management, will make a difference. In other words, it’s like trying to solve one problem by creating another – the pollution here is transferred elsewhere, river pollution moves to groundwater, and surface pollution spreads to the air; it’s simply trying to deceive oneself… In the end, it’s impossible to stop the inevitable trend of ecological degradation and environmental pollution.” ”

As the saying goes, if the people do not report the issue to the authorities, then matters will inevitably be investigated – and that is the normal situation.

“\"Zero emissions\" is just nonsense – trying to deceive people

If a company as large as Shenhua, with such massive investment projects, is in this situation, just think about other projects – it’s terrifying to even consider it

I don’t believe it; such a claim is not in line with science.

The projects I’ve seen and been involved in have always been nothing but a form of deception. State-owned enterprises are slightly better, but the environmental protection measures put in place by private enterprises are merely meant to satisfy inspections. When eating with friends and colleagues, we often talk about how those in our industry are committing sins… Generally, 200,000 tons can destroy several villages; 300,000 tons can destroy most of a county town; 500,000–600,000 tons can destroy half of a smaller city, and millions of tons… It’s not hard to understand why chemical industrial parks need to be relocated, and why the local residents in the areas where they’re moved protest by holding banners and marching.

Zero emissions? P: Zero water discharge means no discharge into rivers, but discharge into the atmosphere. Zero waste discharge – pile it up by yourself!

Believe it or not, I don’t believe it anyway