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China represented a whopping 68% of the increase in CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2010

Coal Consumption on the Rise Except in the United States



“Worldwide, almost 1,200 coal-fired plants are in the planning stages, and over three-quarters are to be built in China and India. To put this in perspective, China and India are planning to build over 60% more coal-fired capacity than the coal-fired generating capacity that currently exists in the United states,” reports Daniel Kish. (1)
China represented a whopping 68% of the increase in CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2010. In the same time period, India saw and 8% increase in global energy-related emissions. By contrast, in the United States, CO2 emissions have fallen by 13% over the past seven years. (2) Kish adds,” Coal's recent global renaissance, with the world's highest consumption for the fuel since 1969, is not just due to Asian countries. In the United Kingdom, for example, coal consumption increased by nearly a quarter between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012. Germany is encouraging the construction of 10 gigawattrs of coal-fired generation to replace its nuclear plants and provide back-up power for its wind and solar units, which require back-up when the wind isn't blowing or when the sun does not shine.” (1) Following the opening of two new coal power stations in 2012, six more are due to open this year in Germany. (3) Europe overall burned more coal in the past year than any time since it pledged cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

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China gets over 70 percent of its electricity generation from coal. According to the National Energy Technology Laboratory, China is building at least one coal-fired unit a week. China currently produces and consumes more coal than any other country in the world. Although China's coal reserves are much smaller than the United States, it consumes almost 4 times the amount of coal than the US consumes and must import coal because its current coal production cannot satisfy its own demand. (4) On the plus side, while China cannot afford to replace its old coal-fired technology, it is building state-of-the-art coal-fired plants that have reduced criteria pollutants dramatically. In fact, as the New York Times has reported, China is actually constructing some coal plants that are cleaner than those allowed to be built in the United States. An irony of our current regulatory policy may be that China will ultimately become the world's supplier of the most advanced clean, coal plants, despite the large size of the US coal resource base. (4) Projections put China's emissions in 2030 in the range of 500% above 1990 levels. Globally, this translates to about 40% of all new energy-related CO2 emissions between now and 2030. If China's emissions continue to grow at the rate of 10% per year, by the year 2040, it could be emitting as much CO2 as the entire world is today. (5) References
  1. Daniel Kish, “Countries worldwide propose to build new coal plants,” coalpower.com, January 28, 2013
  2. Jayashree Nandi, “China represents 68% of increase in global CO2 emissions, India represents 8%: Study,” The Times of India, April 15, 2013
  3. “The new coal boom: Germany to open six more coal power stations in 2013,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, April 22, 2013
  4. “Red China's Energy Dawn,” Institute for Energy Research, Canada Free Press, April 1, 2013
  5. China Environment Series, Issue 11, 2010/2011, Jennifer L. Turner, Editor, Woodrow Wilson International School for Scholars, Page 8


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Jack Dini -- Bio and Archives

Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology.  He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.


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