Coal is one of the most polluted fossil fuels. The retirement pace of retirement of old coal -fired power plants such as China and Europe has slowed down. The global coal -fired power generation capacity has increased in 2023.
These findings from the annual report released by global energy monitoring, this is a non -profit organization that tracks energy projects around the world.
A large amount of greenhouse gases produce coal -fired, so there is a call to quickly eliminate coal use as energy, and countries around the world have basically agreed to reduce their dependence on coal.However, countries that are realizing industrialization, especially Asian countries with cheap coal reserves, have set a longer period for the transformation of the energy structure.
Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and South Korea have also built new coal -fired power plants, which are usually run for 20 to 30 years.
Although the good news is that the pollution of these new coal -fired power plants is usually smaller than the old coal -fired power plants, but scientists, climate researchers and activists believe that in order to avoid the most serious consequences of global warming, not only need to give up use as soon as possible to use and use as soon as possibleCoal also needs to abandon all fossil fuel.
"At this moment, the future of coal involves two aspects: one is how we handle the coal -fired power plant that is still running, and the other is how we can ensure that the coal -fired power plant that has been built will be the lastOne of the authors Flora Shangpuka said."If it was not a large number of construction in China, we had already done the second point almost."
China still plans to continue to build coal -fired power plants for many years, and India is the same, but it is only smaller.China ’s new coal -fired power plant construction in 2023 set a record for eight years.If China is built in the planned coal -fired power plant, it will add the capacity of the coal milem machine to one -third of the existing capabilities.
China ’s coal use is mostly global, followed by India, and the United States again.Coal accounts for the highest proportion of Indian energy structure, and 80%of its power generation comes from coal.
With the growth of coal -fired power plants, Western countries have slowed down the speed of retired coal -fired power plants.The coal -fired capacity retired in 2023 is less than any year in the past ten years.To gradually eliminate all currently running coal -fired power plants before 2040, the average of about two factories will be closed per week.
Analysts said that the slowdown in the retirement rate of coal -fired power plants in 2023 may be a temporary phenomenon, because the United States, Britain, and the European Union countries have formulated various different existing coal -fired power plants for many years before the arrival of 2040 years.Target.The model of the International Energy Agency recommends that in order to limit the global warming temperature to the range of 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature before industrialization, rich countries should gradually eliminate the use of coal by 2030, and other countries should be eliminated by 2040.
"We once said that the use of coal will reach its peak in 2024," said Ruilu's senior vice president of Energy Carlos Torres Diaz."But now I will say, it is unclear whether we can achieve this goal. Anyway, we are close to the goal."
Western countries have been far from coal for more than a century, which largely explain why they have led to more than half of the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions in history.
In order to balance the financial responsibility of energy transformation, wealthy countries have raised tens of billions of dollars to provide loans for developing countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and South Africa, helping them to build renewable energy, and shift to away from faster to away from away from away from away from away from away from away from away from away from away from away from away.Energy structure of coal.However, most of the funds have not yet spent, because the stakeholders are still resolving differences.
For many developing countries, cheap coal prices are the main favorable factor.The volatility of coal prices has also been proved to be lower than oil and natural gas. This is the two other main fossil fuels used for power production.
Taking Bangladesh as an example, the country has been building the country's natural gas power generation capacity.However, due to the large extent affected by the impact related to the Russian and Ukraine War, the price and supply of natural gas have fluctuated, which prompted the country to re -consider and invest in coal.
Analysts said that China has the same situation to some extent.The new crown epidemic has brought difficulties to the economy, which makes it more likely to choose the cheapest fuel: coal.
China is also in the world's leading position in expanding the use of renewable energy. The growth of domestic renewable energy far exceeds the growth of coal, and in some cases, the two are interconnected.Relevant Chinese departments said that most of the coal currently used or planned to use is a backup for renewable energy power generation, and the power grid needs more supplement.
"Although the data from China is not completely clear, one possibility is that although China has built more coal -fired power plants, their usage rate has decreased," Diaz said."But as far as coal is concerned, because the world of China's dosage is relatively large, no matter what happens there will really determine the global trend."
