From The South China Morning Post
China’s aggressive expansion of coal power projects last year set back global efforts to phase out existing plants, which is crucial in the fight against climate change, according to a new study.
Coal-powered capacity in operation in developed and developing countries fell in 2022 as existing plants were retired and proposed projects were cancelled, except in China where new projects are coming up as local governments heed Beijing’s call to ensure energy security.
New coal capacity under development in China increased 38 per cent to 366 gigawatts (GW) last year, while it decreased 20 per cent elsewhere, which drove global projects under development to 537GW, up 12 per cent after hitting a record low in 2021, according to the annual survey released on Thursday by San Francisco-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and 12 other climate non-profit organisations.
Globally, 45.5GW of coal capacity was commissioned in 2022, with nearly 60 per cent coming from China, according to the report. And although 26GW of coal capacity was retired globally last year, the world’s coal-powered fleet grew by 19.5GW, an increase of less than 1 per cent compared with 2021.
“The more new coal projects come online, the steeper the cuts and commitments need to be in the future,” said Flora Champenois, lead author of the report and project manager for GEM’s global coal plant tracker. “At this rate, the transition away from existing and new coal isn’t happening fast enough to avoid climate chaos.”
The GEM report came as the United Nations’ climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned in its latest report last month that current plans and pace of climate actions are insufficient to meet the Paris climate agreement of limiting global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century
China’s aggressive expansion of coal power projects last year set back global efforts to phase out existing plants, which is crucial in the fight against climate change, according to a new study.
Coal-powered capacity in operation in developed and developing countries fell in 2022 as existing plants were retired and proposed projects were cancelled, except in China where new projects are coming up as local governments heed Beijing’s call to ensure energy security.
New coal capacity under development in China increased 38 per cent to 366 gigawatts (GW) last year, while it decreased 20 per cent elsewhere, which drove global projects under development to 537GW, up 12 per cent after hitting a record low in 2021, according to the annual survey released on Thursday by San Francisco-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and 12 other climate non-profit organisations.
Globally, 45.5GW of coal capacity was commissioned in 2022, with nearly 60 per cent coming from China, according to the report. And although 26GW of coal capacity was retired globally last year, the world’s coal-powered fleet grew by 19.5GW, an increase of less than 1 per cent compared with 2021.
“The more new coal projects come online, the steeper the cuts and commitments need to be in the future,” said Flora Champenois, lead author of the report and project manager for GEM’s global coal plant tracker. “At this rate, the transition away from existing and new coal isn’t happening fast enough to avoid climate chaos.”
The GEM report came as the United Nations’ climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned in its latest report last month that current plans and pace of climate actions are insufficient to meet the Paris climate agreement of limiting global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.
In an “Acceleration Agenda” released along with the IPCC report, the UN urged that all existing coal plants must be retired by 2030 in the world’s richest countries, and by 2040 everywhere, and there is no room for any new coal plants.
To meet the UN’s requirement of phasing out coal power by 2040, the pace of retiring coal fleet needs to move four and half times faster than last year, which means retiring an average of 117GW per year, according to GEM.
OECD countries need to retire an average of 60GW of coal power each year to meet their 2030 phase-out deadline, and for non-OECD countries, 91GW each year for their 2040 deadline. For the 537GW of coal capacity under construction and consideration, the required pace of retirement would have to be even steeper, the report said.
The report also raised the alarm over China’s rapid coal power expansion, which could single-handedly reverse progress being made across the rest of the world on coal plant retirements.
China, the world’s largest coal producer and consumer, has embarked on a rapid expansion of its coal fleet since an initial wave of power outages closed factories and homes across half the country in 2021. A drought-induced power shortage in China’s hydro-rich regions such as Sichuan province last year further prompted officials in Beijing to order provincial authorities to ramp up coal production to ensure power security.
Although the country has committed to phase down coal use from 2026 to reach its 2060 carbon neutrality goal, coal is likely to remain at the core of China’s energy infrastructure to ensure stable power supply, former premier Li Keqiang signalled in a speech at the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress last month.
China curbing the use of coal is crucial to the global fight against climate change, analysts said.
“Outside China, the response to the energy crisis was dominated by investments in clean energy. However, that progress urgently needs to be accelerated,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, the lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
“China pulled in the opposite direction, sharply increasing planned coal power capacity, showing the need to deploy clean solutions and better enforcement of existing policies that should restrict new coal power projects,” he said.
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| Source: Statista Global emissions continue to rise. To have any chance of limiting the rise in the global average temperature to 1.5 degrees C, emissions need to start falling. |
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