12mo ago

Analysis: China’s clean energy pushes coal to record-low 53% share of power in May 2024

www.carbonbrief.org

Analysis: China’s clean energy pushes coal to record-low 53% share of power in May 2024 - Carbon Brief

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The proportion of China's electricity produced from fossil fuels (56%) is now lower than it is in the US (60%). What an absolutely MONSTROUS performance.
- Of all the things to turn into a nation-v-nation contest, saving our shared atmosphere is the silliest.
  
  If it drives more investment, I'm all for it.
  
  We need more geen contests!! We're already reaching 1.5°C global warming faster than expected.
- Yea but the us and most of the west has actually reduced its emission growth while China continues to increase with no signs of stopping.
  China hides behind the label of developing nation to avoid taking responsibility for climate change.
  
  That's also largely because the US has outsourced polluting industries to places like China. So reducing emissions while increasing industry and physical production is harder, but it looks like China is working towards it.
  
  The rapid growth in power generation from solar shows that the solar capacity boom is delivering new electricity supplies at a scale sufficient to cover much of China’s demand growth.
  This reinforces the view that China’s CO2 emissions are in a period of structural decline.
  "I didn't read the article but I'm a racist fuck who hates yellow people"
  
  "Hides behind" you say when it is indeed a developing nation lmao
Record low share but still record high(ish) quantity.
Even with everything China is impressively doing its not fast enough to keep up with current power demand growth (hopefully just short-term, decades).
- So is coal power production going down, or are renewables growing faster?
  Edit: looks like they're still adding coal capacity
  
  Yes, that edit.
  Im not trying to be hard on renewables at all, just that in terms of greenhouse gases we are still dumping more and more of them into the air. Just the growth of our carbon farts is a bit slower.
  The power demand growth is insane, and the cost might be too high.
  
  IIRC China does not yet see an easy way to solve the whole "in the winter the sun shines less" problem... So here we are.
- China already has far lower emissions per capita than most western countries, especially so compared to US.
  
  But the Chinese people have no right to live as Americans. Obama said so.
  
  Yes, def (tho recent beef & pork ghg emissions have actually closed the gap considerably). Murikan boomers lived reckless lives on account of (global) future generations in so many ways.
  I was merely pointing out the scales, how giant absolute numbers both in actual emissions & actual growth we are talking about.
But at what cost?!
Is that header photo a screenshot from No Man's Sky? 😅

33 comments