Going Nuclear

Another technology under consideration is coal gasification, which transforms coal into a synthetic fuel, known as syngas, which burns as cleanly as natural gas. "Coal gasification has the potential to squelch power plants' emission of soot and smog, and also to decrease China's growing dependence on imported oil," according to a report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It could even help control emissions of carbon dioxide, which is more easily captured from syngas plants than from conventional coal-fired plants."

McElwrath, for his part, argued that the only realistic long-term solution to China's energy needs and polluted skies is to ditch coal. The best alternative: "Nuclear, nuclear, nuclear: The only thing that will legitimately replace coal will be for China to aggressively build nuclear plants." No other means of generation can deliver the massive amount of power that China needs soon enough, he stated.

That's not to say that renewable sources like hydroelectricity, wind power, solar and biofuels won't have a place in China's energy portfolio, he added. Chinese leaders have laid out ambitious plans for rolling out renewable energy. Their goal is to derive 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. "Hydro would be 80% of that," McElwrath said. Currently, China gets less than 10% of its electricity from renewables, and most of that comes from hydroelectric plants.

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