In 2023, China really knocked the wind out of the sails (hah) of the renewable-energy crowd. In that year, China built some new coal-fired electrical generation facilities. In fact, they built a lot of coal-fired electrical plants — as in...more than twice that of the rest of the world combined.
China ramped up coal power capacity last year, according to new analysis, despite a pledge to "strictly control" the dirtiest fossil fuel.
The country added 47.4 Gigawatts (GW) of new coal power in 2023, more than double the amount added by the rest of the world combined.
It raises concerns that gains in clean power, including by China, are being undermined by the persistent use of coal, the worst energy form for climate change and air pollution.
On Wednesday the UN climate chief Simon Stiell said humanity has "two years to save the world", as he sought to galvanise leaders to step up climate action.
Previously on RedState: United Nations Climate Chief: 'We Have Two Years to Save the Planet.'
This shouldn't come as a surprise. China has always done what is best for China, and China needs electricity. So, coal it is, and plenty of it. This is what any country should do: look after their own people's needs first. It seems the nations of the Anglosphere are among the few with odd, self-destructive tendencies.
China has, of course, pledged to limit coal use and carbon emissions in general, claiming they will be at zero net emissions by 2030. Color me skeptical. They have been steadily increasing coal use for some time now, and the nature of their electrical grid isn't going to make any change-over to renewables quick or easy:
But it already has more coal power than it needs, said Ms (Qi Qin, China analyst for Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air,) but a rigid grid system makes it hard for provinces to share power, meaning many are building their own coal plants.
It seems that changing over a largely decentralized system from coal to renewables will be difficult, at best.
China is still struggling with developing many of its rural regions, and reliable electricity is one of the keys to improving the standard of living in the hinterlands. In the western and northwestern regions of the Middle Kingdom, life hasn't changed appreciatively since before WW2, with many locales not only lacking reliable electricity but even running water, sanitation, and transportation. If Premiere Xi is faced with the choice of trying to remediate this mess in China's hinterlands or appease Western climate scolds, one suspects he'll do the former.
China isn't alone in developing coal power.
Seven other countries added new coal power in 2023 too,GEM (Global Energy Monitor) found.
Those were Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea, Greece, and Zimbabwe.
By comparison, the United States reduced coal-powered generation by 10GW. The United Kingdom has retired coal plants amounting to slightly over 3GW. Most of these reductions have been due to the switch to natural gas, although an increasing reliance on nuclear power would move us even farther down this path, in addition to providing greater energy density per unit of fuel consumed.
See Related: DeSantis Knocks the Wind Out of Climate Alarmists
The United Nations will almost certainly call for increasing carbon limits and regulations that China, as well as the other developing nations, will ignore — or be outright exempted from. And, yes, the Middle Kingdom will certainly continue to make noises about their increases in solar and wind power, but it's a safe bet that, given the explosion in coal-fired power plants, China will not achieve "net-zero" six years from now, or sixteen years from now, or even sixty years from now. The climate scolds will continue to complain, China will continue to smile and nod at them and make noises about their renewable energy efforts and likely will keep on building new coal-fired power plants. The Chinese government, by which we can safely say means the Chinese Communist Party, will continue to take what actions they see are best for China — and one of those things is constant, reliable electricity.
