By Paul Homewood
h/t Philip Bratby
China is building a flurry of new coal-fired power plants, potentially larger than the operating capacity of the United States, even though it knows these plants will likely never be used up.
The puzzle of why the world’s leading clean energy installer is overinvesting in the worst polluting – and increasingly expensive – fossil fuels shows how deeply the North cares Concerns about the squeeze on global energy supplies. But it also reflects planning to gradually reduce the role of coal, from primary energy source to widespread but often idle backup for China’s rapidly expanding renewable energy fleet.
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There’s only one reason why China continues to build new coal plants – it’s because it knows it needs replaceable electricity, not intermittent renewables. Even if you believe Mr. Xi’s promise to hit net zero by 2060, they’ll still need a lot of coal power during this time. After that, much of its old coal capacity will be gone.
In addition, the increased electricity demand cannot be fully met by wind and solar energy.
For this “fast-expanding fleet of renewable energy,” did Bloomberg actually examine the data? Wind and solar power still only account for 11% of electricity production.
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