Smoke from the Datang Hexigten Qi coal-to-gas plant's smokestacks blows to the east in the late afternoon sunlight. Since these massive smokestacks appeared on the grasslands, many herders find it irritable whenever the wind blows the toxic smoke in their direction. 'The smell is really strong,' one herder says. China’s flagship coal-to-gas pilot project is already breaking national standards on air and water pollution, according to an on-the-ground investigation by Greenpeace China.