Current:Home > NewsChina Ramps Up Coal Power Again, Despite Pressure to Cut Emissions -MacroWatch
China Ramps Up Coal Power Again, Despite Pressure to Cut Emissions
View
Date:2025-04-14 03:07:23
ICN occasionally publishes Financial Times articles to bring you more business and international climate reporting.
China is set to add new coal-fired power plants equivalent to the European Union’s entire capacity in a bid to boost its slowing economy, despite global pressure on the world’s biggest energy consumer to rein in carbon emissions.
Across the country, 148 gigawatts of coal-fired plants are either being built or are about to begin construction, according to a report from Global Energy Monitor, a non-profit group that monitors coal stations. The current capacity of the entire EU coal fleet is 149 GW.
While the rest of the world has been largely reducing coal-powered capacity over the past two years, China is building so much new coal power that it more than offsets the decline elsewhere.
Ted Nace, head of Global Energy Monitor, said the new coal plants would have a significant impact on China’s already increasing carbon emissions.
“What is being built in China is single-handedly turning what would be the beginning of the decline of coal into the continued growth of coal,” he said. He said China was “swamping” global progress in bringing down emissions.
The United Nations released a report on Wednesday assessing the gap between countries’ fossil fuel production plans and the Paris climate agreement goals. It warns that the current pace of coal, oil and gas production will soon overshoot those international goals, finding that countries currently plan to produce about 50 percent more fossil fuels by 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 2°C.
China had pledged to peak its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 as part of the Paris climate agreement, and a number of countries and the EU have been urging the world’s largest emitter to move that date forward.
Concerns over air pollution and over-investment in coal prompted China to suspend construction of hundreds of coal stations in 2016. But many have since been restarted as Beijing seeks to stimulate an economy growing at its slowest pace since the early 1990s.
The country’s greenhouse gas emissions have been creeping up since 2016 and hit a record high last year.
China’s Plans Dwarf New Construction Elsewhere
The report shows the pace of new construction starts of Chinese coal stations rose 5 percent in the first half of 2019, compared to the same period last year. About 121 GW of coal power is actively under construction in China, slightly lower than the same point a year ago.
Yet this figure still dwarfs the pace of new construction elsewhere. Last year, China’s net additions to its coal fleet were 25.5 GW, while the rest of the world saw a net decline of 2.8 GW as more coal plants were closed than were built.
What About the Long-Term Economics?
The renewed push into coal has been driven by Chinese energy companies desperate to gain market share and by local governments who view coal plants as a source of jobs and investment. While electricity demand in China rose 8.5 percent last year, the current grid is already oversupplied and coal stations are utilized only about half the time.
“The utilization of coal-fired power plants will reach a record low this year, so there is no justification to build these coal plants,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a think-tank.
“But that is not the logic that investment follows in China,” Myllyvirta said. “There is little regard for the long-term economics of the investments that are being made.”
© The Financial Times Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved. Not to be further redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
veryGood! (2447)
Related
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- A Year in Power: Malaysian premier Anwar searches for support as frustration rises over slow reform
- Top US and Chinese diplomats agree to build on recent progress in ties
- Sheryl Lee Ralph Sets the Record Straight on Rumors She Doesn't Live With Husband Vincent Hughes
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Golf officials to roll back ball for pros and weekend hackers alike. Not everyone is happy
- Fake Donald Trump electors settle civil lawsuit in Wisconsin, agree that President Biden won
- Anne Hathaway talks shocking 'Eileen' movie, prolific year: 'I had six women living in me'
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Norman Lear, Legendary TV Producer, Dead at 101
Ranking
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- A new Homeland Security guide aims to help houses of worship protect themselves
- Bodies of 5 university students found stuffed in a car in Mexico
- Katie Flood Reveals What Happened When She Met Tom Schwartz's Ex-Wife Katie Maloney Post-Hookup
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Family of West Palm Beach chemist who OD'd on kratom sues smoke shop for his death
- A young nurse suffered cardiac arrest while training on the condition. Fellow nurses saved her life
- Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot indicted on 84 charges in alleged attempt to shut down plane's engines mid-flight
Recommendation
McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
Hilary Duff Just Can't Help Going Overboard for the Holidays
Massachusetts woman wins $25 million scratch-off game 17 years after winning $1 million
Cyclone Michaung makes landfall on India's east coast as 17 deaths are blamed on the storm in Chennai
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
A new Dutch parliament has been sworn in after Wilders’ victory in the national election 2 weeks ago
Taylor Swift Reveals Her Intense Workout Routine for the Eras Tour
Psst, Philosophy's Bestselling Holiday Shower Gels Are 40% Off Right Now: Hurry Before They're Gone