Is China finally moving away from coal?
The world finally appears to be getting serious about the global clean energy transition. While world leaders have made a lot of lip service to climate smart developments in the past, many countries finally appear ready to put their money and resources where they say they are, with massive investments in renewable energy. , clean energy technologies and electric vehicles and the widespread development of green stimulus packages that put clean energy at the heart of the post-pandemic economic recovery roadmaps in various countries. But while there appears to be more climate-friendly action in the public sector than ever before, there is still a certain degree of deceptive politics and double talk as world leaders talk about a big game on the market. change of their priorities towards the fight against climate change while continuing to develop high-emission economic targets and industrial sectors in the background. This has certainly been the case for China. President Xi Jinping has been incredibly ambitious and outspoken in his emissions targets for China, the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases. China has publicly committed to reducing its carbon footprint to zero by 2060 and peaking in emissions by 2030, and has positioned itself leader of the global clean energy industry, a feat that will be all the more within the reach of President Xi as China already holds a near-total monopoly  up to 90% in some cases  on many rare earth metals that the production of clean energy la chain builds on. But at the same time that China has made serious progress in improving its greenhouse gas emissions in certain sectors, the nation has also increased its charcoal productionboth at home and abroad, to a very disturbing degree. Yale Environment 360 predicted Chinas return to coal and warned that the countrys ambitious overseas development plans will directly jeopardize global climate initiatives. Chinas Belt and Road Initiative is a colossal infrastructure plan that could transform the economies of nations around the world, the article said. But by focusing on coal-fired power plants, the effort could wipe out any chance of reducing emissions and tip the world into catastrophic climate change.  The story continues  Related: Best Oil Stocks As Prices Bounce Back  And this article, published two years ago, could not know the extent. Chinas hunger for coal has only been catalyzed by the spread of the novel coronavirus. As the pandemic hit economies and raised security concerns around the world, many countries, including China, have rescheduled their priorities with the environment often losing out. In the case of China, economic and energy security concerns have led to a back to coal in many provinces. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has sounded the alarm that our window to avoid the worst effects of catastrophic climate change is closing. Last month, the agency issued a new warning that if we are to have any hope of achieving the targets set by the Paris climate agreement, we must keep it in the ground. The path to net zero is narrow but still achievable. If we want to achieve net zero by 2050, we no longer need to invest in new oil, gas and coal projects, said Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the AIE. city by Reuters last week. Although the IEA recognizes that the world cannot give up fossil fuels overnight, some particularly dirty resources, and more particularly coal, must be replaced in the energy mix with all haste. While all of this is decidedly worrisome, a new report from the Clean Air and Energy Research Center (CREA) indicates that there is a silver lining. While the immediate trend, especially in Asia, is an increase in coal consumption, the longer term trend is ultimately away from coal. More overseas coal-fired power generation capacity invested by China has been canceled than ordered since 2017, said a recent Reuters The report said, highlighting the obstacles the industry faces as countries strive to reduce carbon emissions.  Indeed, the consensus is that despite all the back and forth around coal, the sector is unequivocally in terminal decline. While this will inevitably create hardship for the large number of workers employed by the global coal industry, it is ultimately a beacon of hope for the global community at a time when it is sorely needed. By Haley Zaremba for OilUSD  More reads on Oil Octobers:  Read this article on OilPrice.com