China Leading The World As A Coal-Burning Superpower

China’s December coal output climbed 2.1 percent from the year before, government data showed, hitting the highest level in over three years as major miners ramped up production amid robust winter demand and after the country started up new mines. Miners produced 320.38 million tonnes of coal in December, according to data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics. That is the largest volume since June, 2015.–Reuters, 21 January 2019

China financed more than a quarter of all coal plants announced outside the country last year according to a new report, putting its clean energy image at risk as Chinese institutions fund coal-fired projects in emerging markets. As development banks scale back or completely halt their investment in coal-backed energy projects, China has emerged as a chief lender for such power plants. –Emily Feng, Financial Times, 22 January 2019

While leaders of western countries fret about their greenhouse gas emissions in Katowice, China is forging ahead with new projects and investments in coal and gas. According to a new paper from the Global Warming Foundation (GWPF), the Communist Party’s survival depends on delivering economic growth and cleaner air. As the report’s author Patricia Adams explains: “The Chinese have spent a lot of money on renewables without results on anything like the scale required. So despite their continuing outward support for the green agenda, China is actually going all out for fossil fuels. The Communist Party’s grip on power depends on it.”–Global Warming Policy Foundation, 12 December 2018

The transition to a lower carbon economy has been long promised but the reality remains elusive. There is no doubt that the costs of renewables — led by solar and onshore wind — are now materially cheaper than they ever have been, having fallen respectively to the point at which the International Energy Agency in its latest short term outlook sees prices falling to between $20 and $50 per megawatt hour. —Financial Times, 22 January 2019

Germany is expected to import 45 million tonnes of hard coal this year, up roughly 1.4 percent from 2018 despite mounting competition from renewable energy, as the closure of domestic mines reduces domestic supply, importers said on Friday. The total would comprise an estimated 30 million tonnes for power generation and 15 million tonnes of coking coal and coke, products used in steelmaking, data from lobby group VDKI showed.–Reuters, 18 January 2019

A state-driven closure of coal-fired power plants over the next 12 years would lead to higher power prices, which consumers have to be compensated for, say industry associations the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) in a press release. Compensation is a “mandatory precondition” for their consent to a coal exit deal, the press release says. Germany’s coal exit commission is expected to propose a plan by the beginning of February at the latest. —Clean Energy Wire, 22 January 2019

President Trump has announced the U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord negotiated by President Obama, but some activists say Republicans should do more and truly put the spike into it. They fear that if Mr. Trump was able to withdraw based on his signature, a future president could easily rejoin with another signature. Their solution: have the Senate take a vote to ratify the deal as a treaty, and defeat it. —The Washington Times, 20 January 2019