China’s perceived march towards global domination appears to be ruffling some feathers in the Western world, writes David Borlace on his program, Just Have a Think. He notes, China’s version of the industrial revolution has lifted hundreds of millions out of abject poverty, but it is still held up by some as the greatest modern sin against humanity and our climate.
So, how accurate is that allegation?
What about China’s greenhouse gas emissions? One of the most common questions I get asked is ‘why should we bother reducing our emissions in the West when China is the worst polluter on the planet, and it keeps using more coal every year.’
According to a respected data analytics organisation called Global Energy Monitor (GEM), China currently has just over 1,100 gigawatts of operational coal power capacity. That’s a lot of coal. In fact, according to this chart from Statista, it’s one and a half times more capacity than the next nine largest coal burning countries combined. It also has 268 gigawatts of announced new capacity, about 136 gigawatts of which is in construction.
So, there’s no room for complacency here. That’s a frightening amount of coal and it does indeed propel China to the top of the global emissions league table. But it’s worth scratching the surface a little bit here to get a slightly more nuanced picture.
GEM also tells us that in the last few years China shelved, retired, mothballed or cancelled 775 Gigawatts of capacity based on old, less efficient technology burning dirtier forms of coal. Those older plants emitted roughly one-point-four tons of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour. Cleaner forms of coal burnt in new, more efficient facilities emit about zero-point eight tons per megawatt-hour. That’s more than a forty percent reduction in emissions. [Extract from video transcript]
Watch the whole video: https://youtu.be/bmz4nzcsx-4
Source: Just Have a Think, Apr 29, 2024. https://china-environment-news.net/how-china-is-winning…