https://www.miningweekly.com

China’s green ambitions aren’t halting new coal and steel plans

13th August 2021

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

China continues to announce new steel mills and coal-fired power plants even as the country maps out a path to zeroing out heat-trapping emissions.

State-owned firms proposed 43 new coal-fired generators and 18 new blast furnaces in the first half of 2021, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report Friday. If all approved and built, they would emit about 150-million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, more than the total emissions from the Netherlands.

The project announcements highlight the at-times confusing signals emanating from Beijing as officials vacillate between aggressive measures to reduce carbon emissions and heavy industry-focused spending to maintain the economic recovery from the pandemic.

Construction began on 15 GW of new coal power capacity in the first half, while companies announced 35-million tons of new coal-based steel-making capacity, more than in all of 2020. New steel projects typically replace retiring assets, and while that means total capacity won’t rise, the plants will extend the use of mainly blast furnace technology and lock the sector into further coal dependency, according to the report.

Decisions on permitting new projects will be a test of China’s commitment to reduce coal use from 2026, and also highlight the impact of the Politburo’s recent instructions to avoid “campaign-style” emission reduction measures, a message that’s been interpreted as China slowing the environmental push.

“The key questions now are whether the government will welcome the cooling of emissions-intensive sectors or whether it will turn the tap back on,” CREA researchers said in the report. “Permitting decisions on recently announced new projects will show whether continued investment in coal-based capacity is still allowed.”

China limited emissions growth in the second quarter to a 5% increase from 2019 levels, after a 9% rise in the first quarter, CREA said. The slowdown shows that peaking carbon emissions and controlling financial excesses may be gaining priority over stimulus-fueled economic growth.

President Xi Jinping has set a goal to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and to zero out all greenhouse gas emissions by 2060. Earlier this week, the United Nations published a report pinning responsibility for climate change on human behavior, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying it must be seen as a “death knell” for fossil fuels like coal.

“China’s ability to curb its CO2 emissions growth and realise its emission targets crucially depends on permanently shifting investments in the power and steel sectors away from coal,” CREA said.

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION