We need an energy strategy like China’s

PEOPLE are rightly critical of China for building coal power stations. But that’s not the full story as the country is also working hard so that it’ll be able to use them less and import less coal.

China is facing challenges that mean it will sometimes need coal; for example, when extreme heat and drought simultaneously increase electricity demand and reduce supply.

What people often aren’t aware of is that China is investing far more in clean energy than fossil fuels. In 2023 alone it installed more solar panel capacity than the USA has ever installed and 65% of the world’s new wind power.

China is also manufacturing the equipment to allow other countries to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and is a world leader in research and development in clean-energy technologies.

China wouldn’t be doing this if it didn’t make economic sense.

In contrast, the UK Government has just been defeated in a court case for not doing enough to meet its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions because it had something more akin to a wishlist than a plan.

In response, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said what amounted to “haven’t we done well?”. In fact, until recently we had done well but that’s not the point. If we don’t want to miss out, we need to keep doing well.

Given the available technology, just think what could be achieved if we had a government that knew what a strategy looks like.

Colin Jones via email