China’s leadership sees electricity from coal as an important component of its energy mix. In the future, the government seems to want to set other priorities. A turning point in the fight against climate change?
According to an analysis, China will significantly reduce the expansion of its energy production from coal in the future. In the first half of 2024, the People’s Republic approved far fewer coal-fired power projects than in the same period last year, according to a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) and the Global Energy Monitor. According to the report, 83 percent fewer projects were approved, resulting in a total output of only 9 gigawatts. In 2023 and 2022, China still gave the green light annually for new coal-fired power projects that together were to generate more than 100 gigawatts of power.
The non-governmental organization Greenpeace recently came to similar conclusions. This week, its East Asia department reported 10.34 gigawatts of approved coal-fired power projects in the first half of the year, a decline of 79.5 percent. “We could now see a turning point,” said Greenpeace expert Gao Yuhe, according to the statement. However, a renewed increase is possible as long as no strong measures are taken to directly prevent further coal expansion.
Coal expansion continues
At first glance, the development seems to give hope that China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), could turn around. However, the experts in the latest report point to the power plants that have already been approved but not yet built. In the first six months of this year, construction began on coal projects with a total output of 41 gigawatts. In addition, Beijing wants to bring 80 gigawatts of coal-fired power onto the grid this year, wrote Crea and Global Energy Monitor.
The analysts attribute the noticeable decline in permits to the expansion of renewable energy. In the country governed by the Communist Party and with a population of around 1.4 billion, there are already huge wind and solar parks. China wants to have reached the peak in CO2 emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060. “Now that clean energy is able to meet the country’s growing electricity demand, China should cancel its remaining coal plans and accelerate the decommissioning of existing coal-fired power plants,” said researcher Christine Shearer from the Global Energy Monitor.
Source: Stern
