{"id":366224,"date":"2025-02-15T10:08:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T09:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=366224"},"modified":"2025-02-16T11:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T10:20:06","slug":"china-still-building-coal-power-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=366224","title":{"rendered":"China Still Building Coal Power\u00a0Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

China last year began construction on projects with the greatest combined coal power capacity since 2015, jeopardising the country\u2019s goal to peak carbon emissions by 2030, according to a report published Thursday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world\u2019s second-largest economy is the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change, but also a renewable energy powerhouse. It plans to reach net zero by 2060.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While coal has been a pivotal energy source in China for decades, explosive growth in wind and solar installations in recent years has raised hopes that the country can wean itself off the dirty fossil fuel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But according to a report from the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) in the United States, China began construction on 94.5 gigawatts of coal power projects in 2024 \u2014 93 percent of the global total.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the country also added a record 356 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity \u2014 4.5 times the European Union\u2019s additions \u2014 the uptick in coal power risks solidifying its role in China\u2019s energy mix, the report said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“China\u2019s rapid expansion of renewable energy has the potential to reshape its power system, but this opportunity is being undermined by the simultaneous large-scale expansion of coal power,” said Qi Qin, lead author of the report and China analyst at CREA.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise comes despite a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021 to “strictly control” coal power projects and increases in coal consumption before “phasing it down” between 2026 and 2030.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coal production has risen steadily in recent years, from 3.9 billion tons in 2020 to 4.8 billion tons in 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Without urgent policy shifts, China risks reinforcing a pattern of energy addition rather than transition, limiting the full potential of its clean energy boom,” the report said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/uk.finance.yahoo.com\/news\/chinas-2024-coal-projects-threaten-000005109.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new construction will add about 8% to China\u2019s coal power capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China last year began construction on projects with the greatest combined coal power capacity since 2015, jeopardising the country\u2019s goal to peak carbon emissions by 2030, according to a report published Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":366228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818341,691818056,691818636,691833306],"class_list":["post-366224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-china","tag-climate-change","tag-coal-power","tag-renewable-energy-powerhouse","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0coal-plant-666-scaled-1.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1xgQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":276627,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=276627","url_meta":{"origin":366224,"position":0},"title":"China 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