China’s power industry began construction on nearly 100 gigawatts of new coal plant capacity last year, the most in nearly a decade, a report from two clean-energy groups said yesterday.
The development raises concerns about the country’s ability to meet its carbon reduction goals and threatens to undercut China’s massive expansion in solar and wind power, which has far outpaced that in the US and Europe, the report said.
“Instead of replacing coal, clean energy is being layered on top of an entrenched reliance on fossil fuels,” it said.
Photo: AP
The report is part of a review of China’s coal projects done every six months by the Europe-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and the US-based Global Energy Monitor.
Construction began on 94.5 gigawatts of coal power plant capacity last year, more than in any year since 2015, according to a worldwide database of coal plants maintained by Global Energy Monitor.
Work also resumed on 3.3 gigawatts of suspended projects, the report said.
“A substantial number of new plants will come online in the next 2-3 years, further solidifying coal’s role in the power system,” it said.
The concern is that coal power would displace solar and wind capacity. The report said that in the last three months of last year, electricity generation from fossil fuels remained high, while solar and wind use dropped sharply.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) announced two climate goals in 2020 — a peak in carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.
China’s carbon emissions might have already peaked and the next challenge is to begin reducing them, analysts have said.
The report from the clean energy groups said that China accounted for 93 percent of construction starts globally for coal power plants last year.
Proposals for new or revived coal plant projects in China fell last year to 68.9 gigawatts from more than 100 gigawatts the two previous years, suggesting that construction starts could slow, report said.
Crowds in Bangladesh are flocking to snap photographs with an unlikely social media star — an albino buffalo with flowing blond hair nicknamed “Donald Trump” that is due to be sacrificed within days. Owner Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, said his brother named the 700kg bull over its flowing helmet of hair resembling the signature look of the US president. “My younger brother picked this name because of the buffalo’s extraordinary hair,” he said at his farm in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka. Mridha said that a constant stream of curious visitors — social media fans, onlookers and children — have come throughout
It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young people in India are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)
HOTTER: While Indians are accustomed to summer heat, climate change has caused northwestern India to warm faster than other parts of the country, an academic said Roads and markets have emptied during afternoons and some farmers have switched to nighttime work to avoid scorching temperatures as a heat wave grips large parts of India. The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures for yesterday of about 45°C in the capital, New Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope. The weather department warned that conditions would likely persist across several northern regions in the coming days, with temperatures staying well above seasonal averages. Authorities urged people to stay indoors during the hottest hours and take precautions against heat-related illnesses. India declares a heat wave whenever maximum temperatures
BIGGER ROLE: Beijing has said it maintains an impartial stance on the war in Ukraine, but by training Russian troops, China is far more involved than previously known China’s armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China late last year, and some have since returned to fight in Ukraine, according to three European intelligence agencies and documents seen by Reuters. While China and Russia have held a number of joint military exercises since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Beijing has repeatedly said that it is neutral in the conflict and presents itself as a peace mediator. The covert training sessions, which predominantly focused on the use of drones, were outlined in a dual-language Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior Russian and Chinese officers in Beijing on
RSS