New coal power is not needed for China's energy security. Some new plants are being built because China’s transmission network is not being utilized correctly. Existing coal-fired power plants are operating less often, pushing some of their owners to operating losses. They need to adapt to being marginal power plants. Thus, new coal power plants do not mean more coal use nor higher emissions.
Solar and wind are shrinking coal’s share of electricity generation. It has been falling each year, from 73% in 2016 to 51% in 2025. Meanwhile, solar and wind rose from 3% to 20%.
While China’s coal power construction boom looks, at 1st glance, like a resurgence, it appears to be the final surge before a long downturn. Climate Polluters May Get to Stop Reporting Emissions, but Can’t Hide Them 0825.rtfHow China's Clean Energy Is Changing Other Countries’ Emissions 0825.rtfGlobal Carbon Emissions Reach Record, Again 0725.rtfGlobal Agriculture’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Set to Rise 6% by 2034 - 0725.rtfEurope’s Climate Resolve Faces Test as EU Unveils 90% CO2 Cut by 2040 Goal 0725.rtfChina’s Oil Demand to ‘Peak in 2027’ - 0625.rtfEarth Is Trapping Much More Heat than Climate Models Forecast, 2 x in 20 Years 0625.rtfWarning - 3 Years Left to Limit Warming to 1.5°C 0625.rtfHave China’s Carbon Emissions Finally Peaked? 0625.rtfFossil Fuel Sites Emit a Powerful Greenhouse Gas Long after Shut Down 0625.rtfFormer Official Said China’s Emissions Could Peak “a Few Years before 2030”. 0525.rtfNATO Rearmament Could Increase CO2 Emissions by 200 Million Tonnes a Year 0525.rtfEU States Edge Closer to Meeting 2030 Carbon-Reduction Goal 0525.rtfWildfire Smoke Contributed to 1,000s of US Deaths over 15 Years 0525.rtfIndia’s Steel Expansion Threatens Global Climate Goals, Cleaning Up industry 0525.rtfChina’s CO2 Emissions Down, from Clean Energy 0525.rtfForecast Fossil Fuel Greenhouse Gas Emissions Soar in Trump’s 1st 100 Days 0525.rtfCement Is a Climate Menace. Under Trump, Fixing It Just Got Harder. 0425.rtfUK Emissions Fell 3.6% in 2024, as Coal Use Dropped to Lowest since 1666 - 0325.rtf - very detailed accounting and historyGerman Emissions Fell 3.4% in 2024, on Track for 2030 Climate Goals 0325.rtfRecord Surge of Clean Energy in 2024 Halts China’s CO2 Rise 0125.rtfCoal Use to Reach New Peak and Stay at Near-Record Levels for Years 1224.rtfBig Uptick in Electricity Use for AI, Data Centers Threaten the Green Transition 1224.rtfSmall SUVs Are Now America’s Cleanest Cars. Really. 1224.rtf‘Climate Bomb’ Warning over $200 Billion Wave of New Gas Projects `1224.rtfAustralia Says It Is on Track to Cut CO2 Emissions 43% by 2030 -1124.rtfChinese Climate Experts More Confident of Early Emissions Peak 1124.rtfClick for moreThese Are the Toughest Emissions to Cut, a Big Chunk of the Climate Problem 0618.rtf
- unduly pessimistic view?
2010 Emissions Assures Dangerous Climate Change 0511.rtf
Thus, Total Warming by 2100 will be substantially more than shown in the diagram: about 5 and 4°C.
RCP Emission Scenarios Paper 0511.pdf
- 27 pp, (Representative Concentration Pathway)
Section Map: Carbon Emissions