China power issues

With the Olympics in Beijing fast approaching, the power crisis in China is growing. Now much of the coal based energy generation infrastructure is running on very tight supplies:

State Grid Corp. of China, which more than 1 billion people rely on for power, said electricity shortages have worsened because of inadequate coal supplies. Forty-six percent of the power stations connected to the distributor’s grid have coal stockpiles below the “caution line,” or seven days of consumption, data from the company showed today.

While it is a certainty that the lights will stay on in Beijing for the Olympics, the rest of the country might have to sweat it out!