After Burning for 50 Years, Chinese Coal Fires May Finally Be Extinguished

Fire in Rujigou coalfield in China. Photo: Anupma Prakash

The Coal, The Coal is on Fire, Let the...

China has the worst underground coal fires on Earth. These fires, which have sometimes been raging out-of-control for decades, destroy as much as 20-200 million tons of coal each year (nobody knows the exact number), which is more than Germany's entire annual coal production. Inner Mongolia, which is a part of China and not to be confused with Mongolia, is China's biggest coal-producing region (637 million tonnes of coal just last year), and it's also #1 when it comes to massive coal fires. What can be done?

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