China: Electricity Generated by Coal Reaches Record Low
China is world-renowned for being the world’s largest emitter of CO₂, setting off shy of a third of the globe's carbon emissions. This is despite the work kickstarted at COP28 in Dubai to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030.
However, new analysis from Carbon Brief highlights that although more than half of China’s energy share is still fossil fuel-based, its reliance on it has fallen 7% in a 12-month period.
Although this sounds like a small figure, it marks a monumental shift: China has been adding significant renewable energy capacity to its arsenal, but still has a way to go to move away from fossil fuels for good.
China: Curbing its reliance on fossil fuels
In recent weeks, GlobalData announced that China will meet its renewable energy target in 2025, five years ahead of its 2030 goal.
This comes after, as Carbon Brief points out, coal made up 53% of China’s energy generation, down from 60% in May 2023.
These figures emerge as China’s electricity demand grew by 49TWh, 7.2%, between May 2023 and May 2024.
“If current rapid wind and solar deployment continues, then China’s CO2 output is likely to continue falling, making 2023 the peak year for the country’s emissions,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, Senior Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute and Lead Analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
The country has quietly transformed itself into a renewable energy powerhouse in a bid to move away from its current model, in which it burns half the world’s coal.
Considerable steps have been made to wean China off its fossil fuel reliance, with much of this stemming from the Paris Agreement. As part of this, China has committed to ‘strictly limit’ coal growth as well as new coal power. As well as this, it has pledged to reduce energy and carbon intensity by 2025.
This is no mean feat, with the magnitude of this shift not only shaping the country’s energy future, but that of the entire globe.
China’s energy makeup
Carbon Brief’s analysis also showcases:
- Between May 2023 and May 2024, generation from clean energy sources grew by a record 78TWh
- Fossil fuel output was forced into retreat thanks to clean energy expanding by more than the rise in electricity demand
- Gas generation fell by 4TWh (16%) and coal by 16TWh (4%).
- Falling generation from fossil fuels result in a 3.6% drop in CO2 emissions from the power sector, which accounts for around 40% of China’s total greenhouse gas emissions
“The new findings show a continuation of recent trends, which helped send China’s carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and cement into reverse in March 2024,” Lauri added.
To reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, China is investing heavily in renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower. The latest figures show that hydropower accounted for 17% of China’s total installed power generation capacity and 16% of total power generation.
China is also home to almost half the world’s operating wind power capacity, as well as more solar capacity than the rest of the world combined.
On top of this, the country is also enhancing energy efficiency, promoting EVs and implementing strict environmental regulations to lower carbon emissions, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060.
**************
Make sure you check out the latest edition of Energy Digital Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Sustainability LIVE 2024
**************
Energy Digital is a BizClik brand.
