By AFP - Agence France Presse
CHINA EXPECTED TO REACH PEAK COAL CONSUMPTION IN 2025: REPORT
The country - the largest emitter of greenhouse gases - remains heavily dependent on coal despite installing renewable energy capacity at record speed.
However, while coal remains king in China's energy mix, there are signs that the world's second-largest economy may be moving away from fossil fuels.
Permits for coal-fired power production fell by 83% in the first half of this year, and no new coal-fired steel production projects were approved in the same period.
And 52% of the experts interviewed for a report by the think tanks Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), based in Finland, and the International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS), based in Australia, expect coal consumption in China to peak next year.
The percentage of experts surveyed this year who believe that China's coal consumption has already peaked has also more than doubled this year compared to last year.
“Achieving carbon neutrality in a fast-growing economy like China is no easy task, but the country's substantial efforts are starting to pay off,” said ISETS president Xunpeng Shi.
Significantly more experts also believe that carbon dioxide emissions in the country have already peaked or will peak by 2025, according to the study.
- Reaching the targets -
In recent years, experts have become increasingly optimistic about China's ability to rid itself of greenhouse gas pollutants, with a dizzying installation that has helped Beijing reach its wind and solar power capacity targets six years ahead of schedule.
Despite this, there is still “little clarity on the path of China's emissions,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, CREA's chief analyst.
This leaves open the possibility of rising emissions until 2030 and “very slow” reductions thereafter, he added.
China's demand for coal also increased last year, driving a global increase.
Coal-fired power generation is expected to grow again this year in China, albeit at the lowest rate in almost a decade, according to the International Energy Agency.
Growth in energy consumption also continues to outpace GDP growth and is “faster than in the transition pathways aligned with the Paris Agreement,” said the CREA report.
“China will need to further accelerate the deployment of renewable energy or steer economic development in a less energy-intensive direction,” said Myllyvirta.
China aims to peak its emissions of planet-warming gases by 2030 and reach net zero three decades later.
The 2015 Paris Agreement requires countries to submit deeper and deeper emissions cut plans every five years, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). China must present its updated NDC by February next year.
According to a previous CREA report, China must set a “strong but achievable target of reducing emissions by at least 30%” by 2035.
In November, the authorities voted to pass an energy law, saying it would “actively and steadily promote carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.”
isk/oho/je/wp/fox
Comentários