Guest “Rage, Rage Against the Death of Light” by David Middleton
Note: Except for Rudyard Kipling, I don’t like poetry, especially Dylan Thomas. That’s the jut I just watched Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to school several dozen times and his performance about Don’t go lightly on that good night it’s hilarious!
This is great news for those of us who value “climate campaigners” as much as we do poetry:
China’s coal production hits a record in 2021
To combat climate campaigners, state encourages miners to increase output to stave off winter gas crisis
Jillian Ambrose
Monday, January 17, 2022China’s coal output hit a record last year as the state encouraged miners to increase their fossil fuel output to protect the country’s energy supply through the gas crisis. winter burning.
The world’s largest producer and consumer of coal mined 384.67 million tonnes of fossil fuels last month, easily hitting the previous record of 370.84 million tonnes set in November, after the official The government urges miners to work at full capacity to help boost the country’s economic growth.
Official government figures show coal The harmony also pushed the country to reach a record high coal production for the whole year. China’s coal production rose to an all-time high of 4.07 billion tonnes, up 4.7 percent year-on-year, a blow to climate campaigners months after talks on UN Climate Cop26 in Glasgow.
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Than Dinh… Bwahaha!
The good news isn’t just limited to Asia
As coal use increases, the US finds it difficult to unplug from carbon
BY ROBERT BRYCE, BUSINESS CONTRIBUTORS – 01/16/22 02:00 PM EST 2,069 VIEWS OF CONTRIBUTORS BELOW IS THEIR OWN VIEW AND NOT HILL’S VIEWSo much for the countless claims of “going beyond coal.” According to a new report from the Rhodium Corporation, U.S. coal consumption was up 17% last year from 2020 levels. That’s a big increase, which Rhodium said was “largely due to rising natural gas prices.” Instead of burning gas, which averaged around $4.93 per million Btu last year – more than twice the price in 2020 – many power producers have opted to burn coal instead.
The increase in domestic coal use is significant for two reasons. First, it proves once again that coal remains an essential fuel for power producers in the US and around the world. Second, it demonstrates the Biden administration’s commitment to decarbonization The electricity grid in 2035 is not just a dream.
Hate coal if it makes you happy, but the reality is that power producers have relied on it ever since Thomas Edison used it to fuel the world’s first central power plant in Lower Manhattan in in 1882. Indeed, soaring domestic consumption was part of the skyrocketing global demand for coal, which still accounts for about 36 percent global power generation.
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While Asian countries account for the largest share of global coal use – China alone uses more than a half coal of the world – Iron law on electricity also applies to Europe and Japan. In the third quarter of 2021, the share of coal in Germany’s power structure increased 5.5 percent year-on-year in 2020. That increase is partly due to a decrease in output from the country’s wind energy sector. France, which normally receives about 70% of its electricity from nuclear plants, is also considering burn more coal to replace part of the juice it received from several reactors that were shut down for repair. Meanwhile, Japan is planning to build some 21 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of more than 12,000 megawatts within the next decade.
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In short, it’s easy for politicians and climate activists to vilify hydrocarbons, hype renewables and talk about ditching coal. But as the Rhodium Group report makes clear, economics matters. The US and other countries are not going to suddenly drop coal (or natural gas) to generate electricity because it would be too expensive to do so.
I’ll close by making the same point I’ve made for over a decade: If policymakers are serious about decarbonizing the grid, they need to be serious about nuclear power. . And they need to do so now.
Robert Bryce is the host of the show.”Power Hungry Podcast, “Documentary co-production,”Juice: Insulation explains the world“And is the author of six books, including the most recent,”The Power Question: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations. “Follow him on Twitter @pwrhungry.
From the Rhodium Group report:
The return of coal
The power sector, which accounts for 28% of total US net emissions, has the second-largest increase in GHG emissions compared to 2020. In 2021, emissions will increase by 6% (95 million tons of CO2).2e) above 2020 levels (Figure 2). Despite the rebound from 2020, emissions are still 4% below 2019 levels.
With overall electricity demand growth only modest in 2021 (+3% y/y), the stronger growth in the GHG-emission power sector is due to a sharp increase in coal power production, 17% in 2021. This is the first annual increase in coal production since 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administration (Figure 4).
The coal rally is largely due to increased natural gas prices, with Henry Hub spot prices averaging $4.93/million Btu in 2021, or more than double the 2020 price. increased as oil and gas producers reduce new output in 2021 in response to the COVID oil price drop and consequent slowdown in demand growth. High natural gas prices make gas production less economical in 2021, leading to a 3% decrease in gas production in 2021, reducing the share of gas in total electricity production by 37% (Figure 5). Renewables continue to grow in 2021, with electricity production increasing by 4% (about half the rate of renewables growth in 2020), reaching 20% of US electricity production for the first time.
Preliminary estimate of US greenhouse gas emissions for 2021
Figures 4 & 5 from the Rhodium Group report:
The EIA actually described the above as “New renewable power plants are reducing US electricity production from natural gas“…
A quick learn about the STEO Data Browser demonstrates that, to the extent that unreliable power sources are replacing anything, they are replacing reliable coal-fired power plants. The decline in electricity production from natural gas in 2021 is due to high gas prices and increase the use of existing coal-fired power plants.
According to the EIA of Year 2021 International Energy Outlook Most of the growth in power generation over the next 30 years will come from unreliable energy sources. However, non-OECD countries will add as many trusted generations as OECD countries will do offline. The EIA predicts that the world will generate as much electricity from coal in 2050 as it did in 2010.
The Old King Coal won’t be “gentle in the good evening”… Right, Rodney?
Also… If I offended any poets with this post…
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