Dried Out Farmland in Inner Mongolia

Zhang Dadi, a local farmer, prays for rain in the middle of his corn field that he cannot irrigate in the Adaohai Number 1 Commune.
He has a 150-meter deep well that he uses to irrigate his corn. Last year he planted 20 mu of land, but could only irrigate 15 mu (1 hectare). This year he planted 15 mu but could only irrigate 8 and the remaining 7 mu didn’t get irrigated. The groundwater levels drop every year and it also hasn't rained. Corn planted over a month ago still hasn’t started to sprout. For ten years, the Chinese state-run organisation Shenhua Group, has been exploiting water resources at a shocking scale from the Ordos grasslands to use in its coal-to-liquid project (a process for producing liquid fuel from coal) and illegally dumping toxic industrial waste water. Shenhua's operations have sparked social unrest and caused severe ecological damage including desertification, impacting farmers and herders who are facing reduced water supplies in what was once an abundant farming area.

Unique identifier: GP04OX7

Type: Image

Shoot date: 10/06/2013

Locations: Asia, China, Inner Mongolia, Ordos

Credit line: © Qiu Bo / Greenpeace

Ranking: ★★★★★★★ (A)

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Shenhua Coal-to-Liquid Impacts in Inner Mongolia

A collection of images showing a devastated land and the effects of water shortage on people in the Ordos grasslands in Inner Mongolia. For ten years, the Chinese state-run organisation Shenhua Group, the world's biggest coal producer by volume, has sucked this land dry, exploiting water resources at a shocking scale from these beautiful grasslands to use in its coal-to-liquid project (also known as coal liquefaction, a process for producing liquid fuels from coal) and illegally dumping toxic industrial waste water. Shenhua's operations have sparked social unrest and caused severe ecological damage including desertification, impacting farmers and herders who are facing reduced water supplies in what was once an abundant farming area.