Climate-industrial complex no longer exists as fossil fuels proliferate – Big growth thanks to that?

By Vijay Jayaraj

This comment is the first Published January 11, 2022 at Real Clear Energy

It’s been more than a month since the United Nations climate meeting in Glasgow, but global use of fossil fuels has increased rapidly.

For example, US President Joe Biden canceled domestic oil projects and announced the cessation of funding for international fossil fuel projects. But as fuel prices rose, Biden responded to his self-inflicted energy insecurity by releasing 50 million barrels of oil reserves and even calling for increase domestic oil manufacture.

Within months, the President of the United States had gone from being a climate savior to a climate villain. Although many may see his actions as a temporary solution (to a non-existent problem), the rest of the world sees through the scheme of climate politics and the hypocrisy within. .

There is nothing the climate-industrial complex can do for the situation in the US or other parts of the world. In fact, in Asia, fossil fuel production is on the rise.

India and China go all the way to coal

When climate apocalypses met in November in Glasgow for the annual United Nations meeting, Asian political leaders pushed for policies. find ways to increase fossil fuel production – largely due to lessons learned from severe coal shortages in India and China earlier this year.

Government of India has opened more coal mines and assigned new mines to private companies through auction. India’s Coal Minister has asked the government’s coal-producing arm, Coal India Ltd., to hit an annual target of 1 billion tonnes by 2024.

Meanwhile, China is also taking similar measures to secure its coal supply. Coal production in November hit a record high as Beijing tries to ensure enough fuel to meet winter needs. October 2021 sees the highest monthly output since March 2015. Overall, the first 11 months of this year account for 3.67 billion tons coal, 4.2% higher than in 2020.

Although India and China have manage to pass Given the recent shortage in coal reserves, domestic production must be supplemented by imports. Therefore, the price of coal from Australia and Indonesia still tall. With the Omicron variant expected to have only minimal impact on the economy, we can expect sustainable coal demand until 2022.

Oil futures soar and India collects money from imports

India is just as interested in securing its oil as OPEC has been forecast high global demand in 2022. Oil from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq has been purchased with large number of Asian countries.

India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas reports that the country will acquire “large additional areas for oil exploration and production” by 2025. “As far as the Indian government is concerned, We’re going to accelerate exploration and production in a huge way,” speak Minister in November.

A UAE company owned by India’s richest man is all settings imported crude oil, gasoline and petrochemical products in December. The country’s state-owned oil companies and large refineries have secured supply for the first half of 2022.

Gasoline prices at fuel stations remained high in India throughout the year. However, the federal government intervened by release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves, prices have plummeted. Meanwhile, the country’s Minister of Aviation issued a open call to states to reduce jet fuel prices to “increase air traffic.”

So if anyone is thinking that fossil fuels are dead, they should think again. 2.6 billion people in India and China will continue to use fossil fuels as their primary source of energy until 2070. Even the most advanced places Europe and Scandinavian countries are seeing a fossil fuel revival field.

It’s as if the anti-fossil climate conference never happened this year. As if the promises to end fossil fuels were nothing but steam incense is offered to the altar of climate – only to be consumed by an inescapable energetic reality.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at CO2 Alliance, Arlington, Va., and holds a Master’s degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, UK. He resides in Bengaluru, India.