China is not only building coal-fired plants in its own country, but it is also building them around the world. As of 2019, China had 2,363 active coal-fired power plants and was building another 1,171 plants in China and hundreds more in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Most of China's plants (80 percent) have pollution control equipment that remove sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates, but the coal plants China is building in Africa and most likely elsewhere do not. And none of the plants China is building remove carbon dioxide despite China pledging it will be carbon neutral by 2060. Coal plants can operate for 40 to 60 years or even longer. China's party leaders know that its so-called production of renewable generating technologies, many of which are not connected to the grid, is a good smokescreen for its coal power—and few Western governments will dare to criticize China. Clearly, President-Elect Biden will not criticize China either.
