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Vietnam struggles to quit coal as renewable energy faces hurdles
(China Dialogue, 21 Dec 2022) Despite a boom in renewable power, coal is still a major factor in government decisions, and is slowing the energy transition.
Using a small pickaxe, Huong digs through rocks to find shining chunks of coal. On good days, she can collect 80 kilograms, selling the lot for 400,000 dong (approximately US$16).
Huong is immersed in a nearly 200-year-old practice – extracting coal from north-eastern Quang Ninh province. In the heart of Vietnam’s coal mining industry, Cam Pha, she gathers the remaining coal from a now-closed open pit mine.
“I just take the beautiful ones,” she says of how she distinguishes coal.
Although open-pit mines have been all but exhausted in the city, hundreds of miners still report daily to coal-rich tunnels dug deep into the mountains.
To the sound of dogs barking, a network of trams shuttle coal down the mountainside, and workers dump truckloads into sloping piles at the port across the highway.
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China Dialogue, 21 Dec 2022: Vietnam struggles to quit coal as renewable energy faces hurdles
