Energy Transition, when? Look towards China.
There is no decarbonisation without actual energy transition. Annually 53.85 Billion tonnes of Co2 equivalent emission(s) is generated globally.
If we were to put all human activities that produce Global GHGe into broad 5 Categories:
Making things – Cement, steel, plastics, Aluminium etc.– contributes 31% GHGs
Plugging in electricity – contributes 27% GHGs
Growing things –Plants, Animals etc,– contributes 19% GHGs
Getting around – planes, trucks, cargo, ships, trains, cars – contributes 16% GHGs
Keeping warm/cool – heating, cooling, refrigeration - contributes 7% GHGs
So, Power generation from non-fossil fuels and electrification of everything is the leading target, (that enables majority of )GHG emissions are generated due to making things using electricity and electricity generation itself!
“Both, Electrification of everything and Electricity generation from renewable sources - are the foundation of Net Zero.”
Round of applause on closing the last coal power station in UK, what was it 142 years? ! , right. Now let’s focus on a place far-far away from this kingdom.
Did you know that China has been marching in the direction of renewables at a pace that will make your knees weak?
It is achieving the art of impossible.
Here are the stats:
1. China's investment in clean energy increased in 2023 40 percent year-on-year to $ 890 billion; they were almost as high as the total global investment in the supply of fossil fuels. It has leading position in the field of solar photovoltaics- 2023 alone installed more solar modules than all other countries together
(Source: Bloomberg)
2. China also added 75.9 gigawatts of wind, up from 37.6 gigawatts last year, also a record. In June 2024 it was announced that the Dongfang Electric Corporation, a state electricity producer, the installation of the world's first 18 megawatt wind turbine in Guangdong Province. It is able to generate electricity for 36,000 households. In fact, four of the world's five leading manufacturers of wind turbines are Chinese companies. Investments in wind energy have led to major technological advances and economies of scale, which means that the cost of installed wind turbines in China is only a fifth of the cost in the United States
Additions of renewables mean China can burn less coal to meet rising energy demand, and the shift has fuelled forecasts that the world’s top polluter may have peaked emissions last year, well ahead of the government’s 2030 target.
And that is the headline that you missed.
“China is still in the catching-up phase of modernization and industrialization and yet, China has apparently already fulfilled the obligation under the Paris Climate Agreement to peak its emissions by 2030 and the values are now declining.”
China is electrifying its traffic. What does that mean?
The country now owns over 95 percent of electric buses worldwide, and almost 80 percent of all buses are already operated electrically, compared to only 16 percent in 2016. A number of large Chinese cities have already fully electrified bus fleets.
China has most high speed trains and covers 40,000 km of high-speed lines than the rest of the world combined, they achieved this since 2008.
New regulations are currently being introduced, which will lead to an effective exit from cars with fossil fuels in the next few years. Electric vehicles already account for 50 percent of new registrations in China. China has produces maximum electric cars and accounts for 60% of global sales.
Last Friday, the EU said it would push forward with hefty tariffs on China-made EVs, even after the bloc's largest economy Germany rejected them. These tariffs risk sparking a trade conflict that could harm not only China-EU relations but also Europe's own ambition for a green transition. Its worth mentioning here that USA imposes a 100% duty on imported Chinese EVs.
Despite everything that one hears, reads and gets to understand about China from the western hemisphere, it is a country poised to take Climate Change seriously and is galvanising a long strategy to keep protecting its natural resources and its people.
Mother Nature's tantrums don't discriminate between campaign promises and commercial ventures. When she unleashes her fury, both profit margins and political platforms become sandcastles in a hurricane. While Beijing's bureaucrats seem to be reading the meteorological tea leaves, their global counterparts appear content playing weather roulette with their nations' futures. One wonders: in the game of ecological chess, are some leaders thinking five moves ahead while others are still learning the rules?
What do you think?