China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday said the country would start reducing coal consumption in 2026. Speaking in the virtual meeting of global leaders hosted by US President Joe Biden, Xi said China would develop a coal-dependent energy system. Xi added that the world’s second-largest economy would strictly limit the increase in coal use in 2021-2025 and start phasing it down in 2026-2030. The new vow, however, disappoints environmental activists hoping for a more aggressive target.
While being the global leader in renewable energy, China remained dependent on coal for power generation. A report by Global Energy Monitor showed China commissioned 38.4 GW of new coal-fired power capacity in 2020, higher than 37.8 GW retired elsewhere in the world. The report said that China accounted for 76% of the world’s new coal-fired power generation capacity last year. By comparison, India, in the second spot, only added 2 GW of capacity, just 5.2% of capacity expansion in China.
