China’s coal and gas usage declined this summer despite increasing electrical demand, according to Bloomberg.
Chinese officials asked coal producers to cut back on output, leaving renewables and storage to meet electrical demand. While that might strain energy production, the government only needed to get a small number of factories to lower electrical demand for one night in one province to keep the grid up and running.
China has been setting the bar for wind and solar energy rollouts, but it has also been hesitant to commit to phasing out coal power plants. In fact, it has spun up new coal generation in recent years.
Analysts have suspected the request to drop coal production in July wasn’t related to emissions reductions, either. Production was higher earlier in the year, which led to a market glut and caused prices to tumble by up to 30% in some areas. Lowering production would help stabilize those prices.
While this shift in supply directly impacts energy production, it has also hit steel production in China, which relies on coal-based coke. One analyst said that out of 153 coking coal mines in the province of Shanxi, 54 mines had suspended or cut back production.
China is the world’s largest emitter, primarily due to its extensive use of coal. On top of the steep health risks that come from local pollution of burning coal, the emissions also exacerbate destructive weather patterns like floods and droughts. Those, in turn, ruin agricultural yields, which raise grocery prices. They also destroy homes and make properties uninsurable.
For its part, China has suffered significant damage from extreme weather this summer. Floods in Beijing, Tibet, and Yunnan have left many residents homeless, hurt, or dead.
Even if China’s reduction in coal production was a factor of price stabilization, anything that reduces coal use is good news for global health and safety.
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