Coal

All news and posts of our editorial team on the topic

Financial sector back in the party’s grip
China is repositioning itself in financial regulation and changing its top staff members. This offers the possibility that China and the World Bank will come closer together in their recently strained relationship. However, this does not bode well for climate policy. For the new staff stands for a softening of the green credit guidelines. continue reading →
Coal boom is supposed to boost the economy
China has approved more new coal-fired power plants in 2022 than at any time in the last seven years. Are the international climate targets at risk? Chinese peculiarities such as low utilization of power plants and the rapid expansion of renewables give a reason for hope. But some risks to the climate remain. continue reading →
Two new coal power plants every week
China plans to build dozens of new coal-fired power plants. This is according to an analysis by the two think tanks Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM). The responsible authorities reportedly approved plants with a total capacity of 106 gigawatts last year. That is four times as […] continue reading →
At least five dead after mining accident
A collapse of a large coal mine in Inner Mongolia has killed at least 5 people and buried 48. This was reported by state media on Thursday. Nearly 300 rescue workers are on the scene with search dogs and heavy equipment. At least six injured people have already been rescued.The collapse occurred at an open […] continue reading →
Beijing wants to produce more coal
China plans to increase its coal production by 2025. Ren Jindong, Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration, announced this on Monday at a press conference at the Communist Party Congress. Specifically, the goal was an increase in production to up to 4.6 billion tons. Compared to the previous year, this would represent a 12 […] continue reading →
China’s decarbonization – Beijing is not going ‘all in’ (yet)
Officially, China is pursuing extensive plans to phase out coal, oil and gas. On closer inspection, however, these plans seem less than ambitious. In addition, the temptation to solve acute problems by reverting to greater use of fossil fuels is great. continue reading →
Five dead after coal mine accident
Five miners were killed in an accident at a coal mine in Shanxi. On Friday, a roof collapsed and left the miners trapped. Rescue operations lasted until Monday. Then, during the day, the death of the five miners was reported. Shanxi is the largest coal province in China. It produces 1.2 billion tons of coal […] continue reading →
Energy system is slowly becoming greener
China wants to increase the share of non-fossil energy sources in total consumption by an average of one percent annually by 2030. This is intended to achieve the climate target of using 25 percent non-fossil energy sources by 2030. This was recently announced by the National Energy Commission. Non-fossil fuels, including wind, solar, nuclear and […] continue reading →
Expansion of coal production mandated
China plans to massively expand its coal production. According to the business magazine Caixin, the People’s Republic will this year produce up to 200 million tons more coal compared to last year. To this end, Beijing has ordered several provinces to increase production to ensure a sufficient supply for the country.The background: China currently faces […] continue reading →
New focus on coal jeopardizes climate targets
China’s wind and solar power saw a spurious growth over the past decade. Recently, China released its 14th Five-year plan for Renewable Energy to determine the action path until 2025. The goals will make a major contribution to China’s targets of a carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. However, since late last year, the government relies heavily again on coal power to fire economic growth and ensure energy security. This renewed focus on coal can undermine China’s climate change endeavors going forward. continue reading →
Beijing lifts tariffs on coal imports
China will fully cut tariffs on coal imports. This was announced by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The tariff cuts will be effective from the beginning of May until the end of March 2023. The measure is intended to ensure the country’s energy security. Previously, tariffs against some trading partners were three to six […] continue reading →
Coal as a remedy for a weak economy
The government apparently wants to help the economy by lowering energy prices with cheap coal. Production is expected to increase by seven percent this year, writes AP news agency citing media reports. That is 300 million tons more than last year. This is the second consecutive major increase since 2020. The construction of new coal-fired […] continue reading →
Coal extraction emits large amounts of methane
China is the world’s largest emitter of methane emissions from the energy sector. Emissions of the greenhouse gas leaking from China’s coal mining operations had a greenhouse gas effect comparable to that of global shipping last year. This is according to a study by the International Energy Agency. The study found that the People’s Republic […] continue reading →
China curbs Russian coal imports
China has cut back imports of Russian coal. The move was said to be prompted by shaky financing due to Western sanctions. Most banks had “stopped issuing letters of credit and other trade financing to Russian banks,” a China-based trader told Reuters on Tuesday.Over the weekend, the US, EU and their allies had cut off […] continue reading →
China’s CO2 emissions rise
China’s CO2 emissions rose by four percent last year compared to the previous year. That is according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The reason: the People’s Republic consumed more coal, oil, and gas last year. In detail, consumption of:coal increased by 4.6 percent,oil increased by 4.1 percent,gas increased by 12.5 percentand […] continue reading →
Growth over climate targets
China wants to ease blanket restrictions on power consumption. The aim is to ensure that the country’s environmental and climate goals do not undermine economic growth or jeopardize power security. This was decided by the Communist Party elite at the Central Committee’s annual Central Economic Work Conference. This conference is an important economic planning meeting […] continue reading →
China’s central bank finances “clean coal”
China has decided to provide $31 billion to finance so-called “clean coal”. This was announced by the State Council. China’s central bank will provide concessional loans to national banks in order to finance projects for the “clean and efficient use of coal”. This would include “safe coal mining” and “clean” coal combustion for power generation […] continue reading →
China weakens COP pledges
China has secured a last-minute watering down language on efforts to phase out coal power at the UN Climate Change Conference COP26. Together with India, the Chinese delegation insisted on not signing the climate pact in Glasgow until the commitments to phase out coal power and fossil fuel subsidies were watered down, the Financial Times […] continue reading →