Pollution from new Chinese coal-fired plants will be deadly to Hong Kong

Pollution will come from Guangdong.

A new Greenpeace report warns that pollution from new coal-fired plants planned in Guangdong would cause 16,000 premature deaths in the province and Hong Kong over the next 40 years.

The report estimates that PM2.5 pollution from the existing 96 coal-fired plants operating in both Guangdong and Hong Kong caused nearly 3,600 premature deaths and 4,000 cases of asthma in children in the Pearl Delta region during 2011. PM2.5 refers to dangerous airborne particles measuring 2.5 microns in diameter.

Guangdong is China's biggest coal importer. The region has 11 new coal-fired plants under construction with another 11 planned.

Of the predicted 16,000 premature deaths in the next four decades due to pollution from the 22 new facilities, two-thirds would be related to strokes, the report said. The rest would be from lung cancer and heart disease.

"The cumulative impact of these new power plants on human health is simply shocking," said Zhou Rong, Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner, in a statement. "The Pearl River Delta region should strictly enforce the policy of no more new coal-fired and oil-fired power plants, as announced in 2009."

China, the world's biggest coal consumer, generates about 70% percent of its electricity from coal power and that is expected to double by 2020. China now has 363 coal plants slated for construction.