Call for ‘realistic’ approach to carbon goals
The country’s coal industry got a boost over the weekend when President Xi Jinping called for a “realistic” approach to achieving the carbon neutrality goals.
Addressing deputies from the coal-rich Inner Mongolia region on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, Xi said China’s green transition could not be achieved overnight and its coal-dominated energy structure was unlikely to change fundamentally in the short term.
“We can’t be detached from reality … We can’t toss away what’s feeding us now while what will feed us next is still not in our pocket,” Xi said. “To achieve the ‘dual carbon’ targets, [we] must proceed from national conditions and seek steady progress.”
Xi was referring to targets he announced in September 2020 for the nation to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.
China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of coal. Over the past decade, it lowered the share of coal use in its energy mix from 68 per cent to 56.8 per cent. But the fossil fuel still plays a major role in the power sector, generating 64 per cent of the country’s electricity.
The contribution of coal was underlined last year when China’s output of the fuel hit a record 4.07 billion tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 4.7 per cent.
China increased coal production after being hit by a power crunch in August last year that affected more than 20 provinces and lasted for months.
Since then, there have been signs of a political shift to coal, with many top officials highlighting the significance of the fuel to the country’s energy security.
During an inspection of the eastern province of Shandong last October, Xi told local authorities that China “must hold our energy supplies firmly in our own hands”.
Last week, Vice-Premier Han Zheng, who is also the head of the leading group on carbon peak and carbon neutrality, stressed the need to promote the clean and efficient utilisation of coal and its role in the energy structure.
This comes as oil and gas prices surge to historic levels after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Yang Fuqiang, a researcher with Peking University’s Institute of Energy, said it was understandable that Xi emphasised on attaining energy security now.
“Not only China, but the whole world consumed more fossil fuels last year because of the economic rebound,” Yang said.
“The war between Russia and Ukraine also increases the risk to energy supply as Russia is a major player of the Opec Plus bloc,” he said, referring to a group of crude oil exporting countries that are not members of the oil-producers’ cartel.
Zhuang Guiyang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said last year’s power and coal shortages had reaffirmed the importance of coal in the energy system.