Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the world when he publicly delivered a pledge that his country would reach a peak carbon emission by 2030 and then carbon neutrality by 2060. China is the global leader in renewable investment. It is the world’s top producer and user of electric cars, wind turbines, and photovoltaic solar panels. Two-thirds of the entire solar cells installed globally are made in China.
However, China is still the world’s largest coal user, burning roughly half the coal used worldwide each year. Its yearly carbon emissions nearly tripled over 2000 through 2018. It now contributes to roughly a third of the global overall greenhouse gases. The country is adding more and more coal power capacity amid worries about energy security and losing jobs and growth.
According to San Francisco-based environmental NGO Global Energy Monitor (GEM), China added 11.4 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity in the January-June period of 2020, more than half of the capacity constructed globally. At the same period, the country approved new coal power projects with a combined capacity of 23 GW, higher than the amount in the last two years. At this time, roughly 250 GW of coal power plants are being developed in the world’s second-largest economy.
Chinese state utilities Huaneng Group is constructing a $1.9 billion 4 GW coal and power project near the city of Qingyang in the country’s northwestern province of Gansu. The Zhengning Power Plant Project was shelved in 2016 before being revived in July this year, highlighting the contradicting forces behind China’s climate and economic policy. In another sign of the competing pressure, the widespread availability of cheaper renewable energy has forced three coal plants in the same province to go under and shut since 2017.
The National Energy Administration (NEA) has prioritized energy security without providing favourable conditions for a transition toward clean energy, according to a senior adviser with environmental group Greenpeace. The growing geopolitical tensions also give Beijing an incentive to reduce dependence on foreign resources and develop power projects fueled by domestic coal. China is also avoiding anything that might disrupt economic growth, such as power shortages in 2011.
