While global energy-related CO2 emissions increased by a further 0.9% in 2022, reaching a new record of more than 36.8 billion tonnes, China announces at the opening this Sunday of the annual session of Parliament, increasing its coal production to improve the reliability and security of its energy network.
China is swimming in the midst of a climate paradox. No country in the world invests so much in green energies, from electric cars to renewable energies, while continuing to bet so much on coal for its energy.
106 gigawatts of new projects
China achieved its biggest wave of coal-fired power plants since 2015 last year, a total of 106 gigawatts of new projects, the equivalent of two large coal-fired power plants per week.
Most of these new projects are in provinces hit in recent years by power shortages due to record heat waves. Rising energy prices in recent months have led China to take a very serious look at its energy independence.
Increase inventory
When opening this annual session of Parliamentthe reform commission also highlighted the importance of increasing inventories of oil and domestic natural gas.
But Beijing remains optimistic that from this year or next, the share of fossil fuels should begin to decline in favor of renewable energies.
►Also read: Russia: Vladimir Putin inaugurates a new gas field in Siberia to export to China (December 22, 2022)