Coal power push imperils climate

Scientists warn China’s plan to boost capacity could worsen global warming

Paris: Even as the number of coalfired power plants under development worldwide declines, increased coal use in China and a proposal to boost capacity could imperil global climate change goals, researchers have warned.

The industry’s powerful China Electrical Council called this month for ramping up the national coal power capacity to as much as 1,300 gigawatt (GW) by 2030, a 30% increase compared to today’s levels.

With nearly 1,000GW in operation, China accounts for about half the world’s coal-fired power, with the United States (259GW) and India (221GW) a distant second and third, according to the Global Coal Plant Tracker.

Scientists have said that the use of coal – the most carbon-intensive of fossil fuels – must decline sharply if humanity is to avoid the worst ravages of climate change.

A major UN science report in October said primary energy from coal would need to be virtually phased out by mid-century to have a reasonable chance of holding global warming to 1.5°C.

The 195-nation Paris Agreement urges nations to cap the rise in temperature to “well below” 2°C.

But recent studies have shown that even a 2°C increase will profoundly alter Earth’s climate, boosting the intensity and frequency of deadly heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms.

“We need to radically phase down coal plant use over the next decade to keep on track for Paris climate goals,” said Christine Shearer, an analyst for Global Energy Monitor.

Indicators of recent coal use show a mixed and even paradoxical picture.

Coal-fired plants in the pipeline have declined sharply in recent years, analysts from Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Global Energy Monitor said in a new report, entitled “Boom and Bust”.

Last year, the number of newly completed facilities worldwide dropped by 20% compared to the year before, and by half compared to 2015.

New construction projects over the same period fell even more quickly, by 39% and 84% , respectively.

A near-record number of coal plants were also mothballed, especially in the United States where President Donald Trump’s attempt to promote coal power has been stymied by a market shift towards cheaper solar and wind energy.

Yet global demand for coal increased last year by 0.7%, on the heels of a similar spike in 2017, the International Energy Agency reported earlier this week.

Virtually all of that growth was in Asia and especially China, where coal power generation of electricity shot up by more than 5%.

This, despite measures imposed by Beijing in 2012 and 2013 to slow the sector’s growth, including a tightening of credit, caps on production, and the indefinite idling of dozens of coal plants under construction. — AFP