Pham Minh Vu
Recently, the People’s Committee of Binh Thuan province proposed the use of ash and slag that have met standards for being used as a backfill material for constructions in the province. They encourage people to use the waste of Vinh Tan coal thermal power plant in Binh Thuan not only in the province but also in neighboring localities such as Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan, and Central Highlands provinces.
Conformity with standards is a concept developed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to assess the quality of ash and slag safe and comfortable to use for leveling, which is the concept of covering for demolition actions destroying the environment of this ministry. Currently with 18,000 MW of operating coal power plants emit about 20-25 million tons of ash and slag. According to the assessment of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, if there is no treatment, there will be 422 million tons of waste by 2030 and another 32 million tons every year. And if, on average, the ash dump is about 5 meters, it will take about 65 km2 to contain ash and an additional 5 km2 by a commune in the Northern Delta, you should also remember that the current Hue city is only about 72 km2, Ha Tinh city 65 km2, so slag and ash remain a problem that is harmful to Vietnam’s environment. Turning that dangerous slag and ash into construction materials, the Ministry of Natural Resources has a way of giving the concept called conformity and standards for it to be blatantly leveled legally.
In fact, there is a lot of domestic and international scientific evidence that claims that the components of ash are very dangerous to human health and the environment, especially it contains mercury, and other toxic substances. Because of this reason in Circular 36/2015, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has put ash produced by coal thermal power plants into the list of hazardous waste. However, many provinces and cities now have many backward movements to remove ash and slag from this list, and this may be an action that can be said to kill without a knife when its harm people’s health and environment as it was used as a material for ground leveling.
Even ash from coal-fired power plants is not allowed to be leveled and needs to be managed and treated, because it has many chemical components, especially ash and slag in areas such as Nong Son, Quang Nam or Quang Ninh coal containing radioactive substances and mercury hazardous to human health as well as the environment.
Quang Ninh coal contains about 0.464 mg of mercury per kg of coal. By 2030, the estimated coal use is 144 million tons per year, of which domestic coal is about 50 million tons and imported coal is about 94 million tons. Particularly mercury contained in domestic coal with 0.464mg / kg of coal and 65% removal rate, the amount of mercury released into the air is 7 tons per year. That is not to mention imported coal because we do not know what harmful chemicals in the imported coal and at what concentration. If only 7 tons of mercury are released into the environment, how do you think the destruction of coal thermal power? That is the mercury content alone, not including radiation or other chemicals.
Yet, just now, Ha Tinh used Formosa’s slag and ash for leveling, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment warned that slag and coal ash were toxic substances, but for the benefit that the interest groups determined to bring that poison to the environment to destroy life.
The world has considered coal thermal power as a past because it harmfulness not only affects the environment in the country where the plants are operating, but also affects the earth, contributing to global warming. The danger is that, so China has strictly forbidden coal-fired power plants over 50 MW to operate, but Vietnam has brought it from China, buying at an unbelievably high price, such as investment plants in Vinh Tan is the presence of EVN, if there is a loss then EVN will force the people to pay for that investment.
While the world has switched to using wind energy and solar energy, Vietnam is still proud that by 2030 there will be about 80 coal-fired power plants. What proud when China itself also discarded them and Vietnam picked up to destroy the nation? Not to mention, wind and solar power plants are forced to reduce capacity. Why not invest in wind and solar energy but try to dive your head into the coal power death pit? What will Vietnam do with 80 coal-fired power plants that annually release tens of tons of mercury and radioactivity in the sky, underground they will fill slag, ash soak into the water flowing into each family’s rice bowl?
Many times I wonder whether the communist party’s great policy is to do everything against the civilization?
The white burial mantle will cover all Vietnamese people before it can move up to socialist heaven or turn into a tiger!
EVN-protected destroyer
Today, July 5, in Saigon Liberation newspaper, the article “Dust and noise near Vinh Tan Power Center beyond the allowed level” said that the Chinese outdated-technology thermal power plant continues to cause pollution, this time it is noise pollution along with dust. The factory had previously asked to dump millions of waste into the sea and was opposed by society, but where it was thrown away, no one knew.
On December 19, 2019, in the online Hải Quan (Customs) newspaper, the article “Vietnam will import 2.1 billion kWh of electricity from China in 2020″ said that domestic electricity demand is in shortage and EVN has to buy electricity from China and Laos to meet the demand. Electricity is so lacking, but EVN is currently causing difficulties with the LNG Bac Lieu Electricity project (see the article “Bac Lieu LNG gas power project: still having electricity price problems“, published in Saigon Economic Times on May 5. 7 years 2020). It is known that Delta Offshore Energy Pte. Ltd from Singapore wants to invest $4 billion in the project in the form of FDI. Conditions for approval of investment projects are that investors must negotiate electricity selling prices with EVN. If the negotiation is successful, it will be allowed to carry out the project, if not successful, “go away.” This is an extremely unreasonable bottleneck, the Communist Party has granted EVN this right like allowing anyone to do whatever they want. Any company wishing to invest in a power plant in Vietnam must bow to EVN. Those investors who do not spend big money to pour into EVN officials’ mouths will find it hard to set foot in Vietnam to invest.
In the context of the country’s lacking electricity, EVN wants to block an investment project of a liquefied gas power plant (a technology that is much cleaner than coal power), which shows that there is a problem in this issue. Meanwhile, EVN invited China to build a lot of coal power projects which are both polluted and outdated? It’s incomprehensible. Could it be that EVN is the Communist arm of China, or is it too corrupted?
To answer this problem, of course, EVN will use the excuse for the “price” of electricity. When China uses “outdated” technology to invest, of course, electricity is cheap already ?! With those outdated technologies they want to give away, they have to spend money on the garbage disposal party, but stuffing EVN officials and senior communist officials a little bit more money is they agree to receive the stuff of owing this immediately. Instead of having to spend money to liquidate it, Red China sells it to Vietnam. It gets money while Vietnam suffers millions of tons of toxic waste every year. On January 29, 2018, in Dan Tri newspaper, an article “China says goodbye to coal-fired power” said that the country is trying to get rid of this obsolete and polluting technology, and of course, people understand where they throw. EVN itself accepts it easily.
Currently, solar and wind power in Vietnam is being strangled by EVN with the right to monopolize electricity price. EVN has monopoly on buying price and monopoly on selling price: monopoly on buying price gives them the right to be close to investors of electricity industry in Vietnam. When they nodded, they were allowed to invest. They shook their heads to get out of Vietnam. And it was this whimsical privilege that either drove or strangled clean energy investors. Encouraging dirty technology, EVN indirectly poisons the Vietnamese people; the monopoly on selling price helps EVN to dispose of people as much as they want.
In order for EVN to survive with such many bizarre privileges, the country of Vietnam and its people have suffered too much. EVN is exactly a country’s destroyer guaranteed by the corrupted state.
Do Nga
Thoibao.de (Translated)
