Many of us in the Western world are spending the most ever on electricity bills, forced to eat fake meat, and paying a lot more in taxes for green initiatives. At the same time, China ignores the green revolution by ramping up record coal production in December.
As the world seeks to phase down use of coal, China’s biggest coal-fired power plant has just finished construction and entered operation on Dec. 28.
We wouldn’t worry about natural gas and coal being phased out just yet. A stink load of electricity generation will be required to retire natural gas and coal. You need batteries to provide power when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
Former Vice President Al Gore went from making Armageddon climate predictions that didn’t pan out to running point for China’s alleged “commitment” to end its overseas coal financing.
China’s state economic planner has said that it will use “all necessary means” to roll back record-high coal prices.
In the blue corner, the world’s accelerating drive to stem carbon emissions and turn back global warming. In the red corner, a sudden spike this month in global demand for fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.
Despite global expectations to move away from coal, demand in China is still strong, as rising global temperatures causing heat waves are driving up electricity demand and coal prices. Thermal coal futures reached record highs in July as a heatwave in China sent electricity use soaring.
