Why do the cities pay for them? Why aren't the coal-burning energy utility companies paying for them, out of pocket?
Much of the coal smog comes from individuals burning coal in small fires to heat their residences.
Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
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Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#32Wouldn't spraying water into air with sulfur oxides just create acid rain?
Sure. With the mist, you get dilute sulfuric acid settling on buildings and streets and attacking the concrete, or maybe being washed away. Without the mist, the dilute sulfuric acid forms in the noses and lungs of your citizens instead, damaging their sense of smell and ability to absorb oxygen. The mist sounds like an improvement.
But this is mostly aimed at particulate pollution, not sulfur dioxide.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
When the root cause is bad government that can't enforce environmental laws due to corruption...and you are the government who doesn't want to change (say by more accountability via elections and a free press), looking for something that instead treats the symptoms is attractive. Make no mistake, China's pollution problem is very much a political one.
India's pollution is as bad, if not worse: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/02/india-v...
The biggest relevant fact on that page is half hidden. China pumps out 10 gigatonnes of CO2 every year. India? Just 2 gigatonnes tons. In fact, you could combine the U.S, E.U and India's C02 annual output, and it still wouldn't be as much as China. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_di...
Why does that matter? Because India has roughly the same population size as China, but pumps significantly less C02 into the atmosphere.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#34Why do the cities pay for them? Why aren't the coal-burning energy utility companies paying for them, out of pocket?
That is not really how communism works.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#35Or you know, you can just like not pollute the shit out of the Earth. China is the worst.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#36Doesn't this simply remove some of the symptoms instead of working with the root cause?
When the root cause is bad government that can't enforce environmental laws due to corruption...and you are the government who doesn't want to change (say by more accountability via elections and a free press), looking for something that instead treats the symptoms is attractive. Make no mistake, China's pollution problem is very much a political one.
The root cause is focusing on economical development over everything else, including staggering inequality, pollution, and others.
The central governments' inability to enforce local municipalities to do whatever they want, is actually result of the shifting political structure from a single autocratic ruler during Mao's era to a more technocratic/autonomous style of ruling. This is a good thing, although it does create inefficiencies when central government interests conflict with local ones.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#37Why do the cities pay for them? Why aren't the coal-burning energy utility companies paying for them, out of pocket?
That is not really how communism works.
I don't know if this is a joke, but China is more like unregulated capitalism than communism, it's probably more capitalistic than most European countries.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#38Doesn't this simply remove some of the symptoms instead of working with the root cause?
Why does there have to be a difference? Clearly not having smog in the first place would prevent this, but how does that help Beijing right now? If you have an open wound the doctor does not prescribe staying away from sharp things, they treat the wound.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#39I wonder if a bigger version of this could be built to inject a cloud of ash into the atmosphere to help mitigate climate change [1]. [1] https://www.ted.com/talks/david_keith_s_surprising_ideas_on_...
I think it would safer and more prudent to move away as quickly as possible from fossil fuels as primary fuel sources.
I totally agree. The ash injection approach seems like a temporary emergency solution.
Re: Chinese cities use “mist cannon” to shoot pollution from the sky
#40Say what you will about China and its pollution, it's an interesting attempt at a solution.[1] Could you imagine something like that implemented easily in the US before caught within lawyer-string nets of liability?
China has many problems, but many HN readers bashing China have probably never set foot there and are formulating their understanding based off of western media and the socioeconomic + cultural dynamics of Chinese diaspora communities in the west (working in low-paying jobs, less seen as literary/communicative thanks to language barriers).
I'm not Chinese nor do I have a particular stake, but I was there for three weeks this summer and was overwhelmed by a kind of social optimism - the shared assumption that services are getting better, progress will happen, and a relentless cycle of innovation (in China's own way; see 'Shanzai').
All this is to say that - pollution sucks. China needs to get its shit together and pass clean air laws. But these devices are emblematic of a very Chinese mode of progress and innovation that I'm not quite describing properly.
[1] Yes, I know the technology is not completely new, and controlling particulates by deploying other media is common - when polishing/concrete, for example.