True cost of China coal “56% above price”

The true cost of coal in China, taking damage to the environment and human health into account, is 56% above the going price, conservationists were reported as saying on Monday.
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WWF and the Energy Foundation calculated the true cost of coal at 734 yuan (US$99) per tonne in 2006, Reuters reported, compared with coal prices of 470 yuan (US$63) in the year.
"The coal price in China is very cheap," Hu Min, of the Energy Foundation, was reported as saying.
WWF said coal mining was responsible for 25% of China’s total waste water discharge and that about 400,000 people had died from sulphur dioxide emission-related illnesses due to coal mining by 2005.

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