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China continues to announce new steel mills
and coal-fired power plants even as the country maps out a path to zeroing out
heat-trapping emissions.
State-owned firms proposed 43 new
coal-fired generators and 18 new blast furnaces in the first half of 2021, the
Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report Friday. If
all approved and built, they would emit about 150-million tonnes of carbon
dioxide a year, more than the total emissions from the Netherlands.
The project announcements highlight the
at-times confusing signals emanating from Beijing as officials vacillate
between aggressive measures to reduce carbon emissions and heavy
industry-focused spending to maintain the economic recovery from the pandemic.
Construction began on 15 GW of new coal
power capacity in the first half, while companies announced 35-million tons of
new coal-based steel-making capacity, more than in all of 2020. New steel
projects typically replace retiring assets, and while that means total capacity
won’t rise, the plants will extend the use of mainly blast furnace technology
and lock the sector into further coal dependency, according to the report.
Decisions on permitting new projects will
be a test of China’s commitment to reduce coal use from 2026, and also
highlight the impact of the Politburo’s recent instructions to avoid
“campaign-style” emission reduction measures, a message that’s been interpreted
as China slowing the environmental push.
“The key questions now are whether the
government will welcome the cooling of emissions-intensive sectors or whether
it will turn the tap back on,” CREA researchers said in the report. “Permitting
decisions on recently announced new projects will show whether continued
investment in coal-based capacity is still allowed.”
China limited emissions growth in the
second quarter to a 5% increase from 2019 levels, after a 9% rise in the first
quarter, CREA said. The slowdown shows that peaking carbon emissions and
controlling financial excesses may be gaining priority over stimulus-fueled
economic growth.
President Xi Jinping has set a goal to peak
carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and to zero out all greenhouse gas emissions
by 2060. Earlier this week, the United Nations published a report pinning
responsibility for climate change on human behavior, with UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres saying it must be seen as a “death knell” for fossil fuels
like coal.
“China’s ability to curb its CO2 emissions
growth and realise its emission targets crucially depends on permanently
shifting investments in the power and steel sectors away from coal,” CREA said.