Coal On The Rise
It was a bumper year in 2021, a bigger year in 2022, and possibly more glorious records for coal in 2023 and 2024. (1)
Couple this with the war in the Ukraine as countries scramble to replace Russian sources and it is evident that coal usage will continue to rise. (2)
So if anyone is thinking that ‘fossil fuels’ are dead, they should think again. The 2.6 billion people in India and China will continue to use ‘fossil fuels’ as their primary energy source until 2070. Even the most advanced European and Scandinavian countries are witnessing a revival of the ‘fossil fuel’ sector. (3)
Faced with turmoil, China is returning to its old habit of coal, no matter what damage it does to climate momentum.
Gone are the heady days in China of late 2020, when think tanks, newspapers and state run enterprises issued a flurry of optimistic outlooks and officials talked about completing the largest energy transition in mankind’s history by zeroing out emissions in the world’s biggest polluter by 2060.
Now, with fears of energy shortages growing around the world and concerns that rising coronavirus cases could hinder economic growth at home, the country’s leaders are doubling down on ‘fossil fuels’. (4)
The shift has been months in the making, Ever since a shortage of coal sparked widespread power curtailments in September and October, leaders have drummed home the message that the dirtiest ‘fossil fuel’ is also the most important to ensuring continued growth.
China has approved mining expansions that’s pushed output to record levels and started construction on new generators powered by fuel, even as such efforts are shunned in most other parts of the world. The National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s top economic planner, wants to boost domestic production capacity by about 300 million tons.
China recorded its biggest increase in total energy consumption and coal use in a decade in 2021, as the economy recovered from COVID-19 slowdown a year earlier. Coal consumption in China rose 4.6 percent in 2021, also the strongest rate of growth in a decade. (5)
China is now digging up nearly 12 million tons of coal each and every day. If they keep this up it will be a “One Billion Ton” quarter and potentially nearly a 4-billion-ton year. That’s about 8 times Australia’s entire annual production and about six times the United States. (6)
China isn’t alone with increased coal consumption. Coal’s share in India’s power mix rose after five years of declines, underscoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s challenge to overhaul the nation’s energy sector and meet climate goals. (7)
In the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, the nation joined neighbor China in resisting global action to phase out coal and had the language diluted to a ‘phase-down.’ The country has argued that the knee-jerk exit from coal could deprive millions of its citizens of access to affordable energy.
The Indian government has opened more coal mines and has allocated new mines to private players through auctions. India’s coal minister has asked the government’s coal productions arm, Coal India Limited, to meet an annual target of 1 billion tons by 2024. (8)
China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 coal power units. This amounts to 80 percent of the world’s planned new coal plants. (9)
One of Europe’s biggest energy companies is preparing to bring a string of German coal power stations out of retirement as part of efforts to wean the country off Russian gas. These include plants that have been decommissioned, those that are scheduled to go off-grid this year, and others that are currently kept on standby. (10)
While other countries are building coal plants around the world, the United States is shuttering its coal fired power plants, despite having, by far, the world’s largest supply of coal. Between January 2017 and May 2019, the United States shuttered 50 coal fired plants, with 51 more shutdowns announced, bringing the total shutdowns to 289 since 2010. (11)
References
Header image: Yale Environment 360
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Gary Brown
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March 17, 2022 Joe Biden’s ‘Transition Away From the Oil Industry’ Is Strangling America’s Economy
That statement was a clear signal to energy producers in this country that Biden’s eventual ascent to the presidency would bring unprecedented uncertainty for at least the next four years. Never willing to let a crisis go to waste, the Biden administration went straight to work dismantling the future of our oil and gas refining capacity.
https://climaterealism.com/2022/03/joe-bidens-transition-away-from-the-oil-industry-is-strangling-americas-economy/
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Mark Tapley
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Hello Brown: Makes no difference which Zionist fake party is in power. The U.S. standard of living must continue to be lowered so it can be more comfortably merged with the third world. The fake environmental movement and the climate change fraud instigated by the elite’s Club of Rome in 1969 has targeted all western countries in order to create energy shortages that can then be blamed on the fake “green house emissions.” Here in Texas, “Green Energy” award winner and crypto Jew Abbot has done everything possible to reduce energy production in the state that is the #1 energy producer in the country. The debacle last winter in which windmills froze and also stopped because the wind died down is a direct result of actions taken since the (((Pritzker’s))) monkey Obama was in office and Texas began shutting down coal powered plants that increased reliance on “Green Energy” inefficient and undependable alternatives. Although Gov. Abbot should have been recalled, he did take quick action the next week by giving a speech on the dangers of antisemitism.
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=abbot+at+the+wailing+wall+photo&fr=aaplw&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FEOa8yyyU8AA1NyK.jpg#id=9&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FEOa8yyyU8AA1NyK.jpg&action=click
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MattH
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Another well written and researched Jack Dini article. Thank you.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Matt,
(https://principia-scientific.com/solar-radiation-sufficient-no-greenhouse-effect-certain-atmospheric-gases/). Maybe you weren’t here in 2016 but I did recently bring this link to the attention of PSI readers again.
Dini wrote: “Faced with turmoil, China is returning to its old habit of coal, no matter what damage it does to climate momentum.” So maybe China is well aware there is no influence on climate by burning coal as I am, even if it seems few PSI Readers have read and understood what I have written. And when I was in China for a few days, there was no evidence of soot and other particulate (electrostatic precipitator) and the scrubbing the stack for sulfur oxides is maybe cost effective because technology still needs sulfuric acid.
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MattH
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Hi Jerry.
I to spotted the term “climate momentum in Jack Dini’s article and deemed it “unfortunate”.
I read your article and did not spot spelling mistakes. The explanation of what science is is valuable although I am coming to the conclusion that science is not always necessarily about “truth” but more about “understanding” what causes that which observe or utilize.
Yes, there are truths such as those used in engineering but with climate which is described as “a non linear chaotic system” one can understand how each contributing factor can contribute to climate but nobody can predict when the sun is going to have a spasm of huge corona mass ejections.
The black iron sand here on West Coast, New Zealand beaches absorbs the solar energy without reflecting the way snow does so anybody who has been burnt by standing on the iron sand must know the sun heats the earth surface to some serious temperatures. They are not ice burns causing the blistering.
You mention Carl. I wish I had printed off the comment Carl made on describing how a hothouse works. He makes great comments.
Good on you Jerry.
Matt
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Artelia
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Anthracite coal is CLEAN burning and only releases CO2.
Dirty coal can have steps taken to reduce the amount of toxins released from its burning. It can be cleaned before use or the chimneys can be filtered.
Our agriculture is in urgent need of cleaning up and the soil itself can trap vast amounts of CO2 and carbon. Our soils are urgently in need of HUMUS. They also benefit from biochar. Hedgerows, trees and green manures also work hard to filter and make use of the carbon from our air. Why are we not capturing gas/methane from sewage and waste? The coppicing of ash trees will help to sustainably heat our homes.
Dried animal faeces used to be burnt in fires. Why is dried faeces not being used? What about using the plastic waste?
These lithium batteries are an environmental MISTAKE.
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