• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Coal-Dependent Jakarta Sees Air Quality Worsen During Lockdown

July 14, 2020
Reading time: 3 minutes

MaxPixel

MaxPixel

8
SHARES
 

In a reversal of a trend seen in other major cities in Southeast Asia, Jakarta’s air quality actually got worse during the traffic-squelching pandemic lockdown. Air quality experts are largely blaming the dozen coal plants that supply the Indonesian megalopolis with power—while killing tens of thousands of city residents annually and delivering poor birth weights to thousands of babies.

In an early June post, the South Asia Globe writes of its efforts to explore how Jakarta’s air quality fared during a regional lockdown that began in early February and was easing in some jurisdictions by mid-May. Citing data from the region’s monthly air quality index (AQI), the Globe calls Jakarta a “notable outlier” in a pattern that showed a clear correlation between the lockdown and cleaner air in 10 other major cities across Southeast Asia.

Home to nearly 10 million people—and only one metro line—Jakarta is infamous for bad traffic. The city did see a significant drop in vehicle use, and a corresponding reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), during its own partial lockdown, which ran between mid-April and early June.

Even so, “while other cities bunkered down under bluer skies, Jakarta’s AQI kept rising, month-on-month, to hit the unhealthy high of 127 in mid-May.” [At 6 p.m. on July 14, Jakarta’s AQI was a terrifying 152.—Ed.]

That the citizens of Jakarta did not even experience the “silver lining” of cleaner air during the otherwise terrible experience of lockdown owes significantly to the fact that their city is surrounded by no less than 12 coal power plants. Isabella Suarez, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), told the Globe that while agricultural burning outside city limits also likely contributed to Jakarta’s implacably smog-choked skies, the coal plants, which remained fully operational during the lockdown, were the chief culprits.

Coal plants like the ones surrounding Jakarta are key sources of micro-sized PM2.5 pollutants which, because they linger long in the air, can be borne long distances on the wind. They are also easily inhaled, and have been proven to be very harmful to human health, noted Suarez.

In the three years since Greenpeace Indonesia produced its Silent Killer report on the Indonesian capital’s apocalyptic air pollution, four new coal plants have come online nearby. “One of the largest, Java 7 Unit 1, became operational in late 2019 and is over twice as powerful as all renewable energy plants launched that year,” notes the Globe.

The Greenpeace report found a clear correlation between the city’s incredible density of power plants (more of them within a 100-kilometre radius of Jakarta than in any other world capital) and the 10,600 premature deaths and 2,800 low birth weights occurring each year in the region.

The Indonesian government did announce early this year that it plans “to remove coal-fired power plants aged 20 years or older with replacements that use renewable energy instead,” but coal remains Jakarta’s dominant power supplier, at 60%. It is expected to remain so “until at least 2028,” writes the Globe.



in Asia, Cities & Communities, Coal, Energy Politics, Health & Safety

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

openthegovernment.org
United States

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
50
jasonwoodhead23/flickr
Energy Politics

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
4
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France
Nuclear

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
11

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
5.5k
openthegovernment.org

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
50
Noah Berger/flickr

Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe

August 2, 2022
569
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

August 2, 2022
1.2k
flickr

‘Big Wake-Up Call’ as Energy Crisis Makes Fossil Hydrogen a Bad Investment

July 20, 2022
997
/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hit Wind Turbine Blade

December 22, 2021
653

Recent Posts

jasonwoodhead23/flickr

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
4
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
11
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome

August 7, 2022
6
Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
10
David Wilson/wikimedia commons

U.S. State Treasurers Use Public Office to Thwart Climate Action, Investigation Finds

August 7, 2022
6
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Wikimedia Commons

China’s Latest Renewables Plan Could Bridge Global 1.5°C Gap, Expert Says

August 7, 2022
9
Next Post
Facebook

Open Letter to Wilkinson Urges Environmental Assessment for Vista Coal Mine Expansion

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}