By P Gosselin
hina continues to barrel ahead with the new construction, expansion of coal fired power plants
In Germany, while radical groups of climate-crazies like Extinction Rebellion and Last Generation are gluing themselves to road and airport tarmac surfaces to rescue the planet from the myth that is the climate catastrophe, China is planning to double the capacity of its coal-fired power plants, reports German online Blackout News here.
A long way to go before China turns green. Coal still number 1 by far. Source: https://ourworldindata.org/energy
“China is building a huge number of new coal-fired power plants, possibly more than the rest of the world combined,” reports Blackout News, citing Bloomberg. But that huge added capacity allegedly will only serve as back-up for renewable energies. “The power plants will likely never operate at full capacity.”
4 times more than what Germany needs
By the end of 2023, China plans to build new coal-fired power plants with a capacity of at least 165 gigawatts – which is equivalent to more than double of Germany’s current total electric power demand.
That figure is estimated to rise to “a total of 270 gigawatts in the five years to 2025”. China’s planned added capacity would be more than the rest of the world.
So why would China barrel ahead at warp speed to install coal-fired power plants?
The answer is that its leaders see the huge blunders made by countries who chaotically rushed into green energies without any plan whatsoever, like Germany, which this winter is facing rolling brownouts due to a grid that’s been made unstable by green energies and shutdowns of coal and nuclear power plants. China aims to avoid the German power debacle.
“China’s strategy is responding to mistakes made in the U.S. and Europe with its expansion. There, people stopped investing in fossil fuel production and infrastructure before renewables were able to replace them,” summarizes Blackout News.
No way around conventional power plants
Also China’s strategies demonstrate how it is physically impossible to solely rely on wind and solar energy, and that a huge fossil fuel back-up system is imperative and unavoidable. President Xi Jinping claims the country’s aim is to eventually phase out fossil fuels, and is following the strategy of “building new before discarding old.” But clearly China is doing lots of new building of the old, and little discarding.
The wacko protesters should be gluing themselves in China if they’re really concerned about green energy progress.
This illustrates that actions speak louder than words. All the rhetoric at the various COPs is worthless if it isn’t backed up by actions. China has made vague promises to cut fossil fuel use sometime in the future to appease the half-wit Greens in the West. But China is going to look after itself by doing what is right for China.
they play the long game
There is no policy, plan or promise that China can make that can’t be reversed by an edict from Xi.
Any actions required by all the COP rhetoric are suicidal, theoretically and demonstrably. The Chinese are not stupid, and they don’t give the activist lunatics any power.
The Chinese, as far as energy is concerned, are carrying on with normal human development just as the West has been doing for centuries.
We, on the other hand, think it’s a good idea to throw it all in the trash.
“The Chinese, as far as energy is concerned, are carrying on with normal human development just as the West has been doing for centuries.
We, on the other hand, think it’s a good idea to throw it all in the trash.”
Good way to put it.
John,
The Chinese are NOT carrying on with “normal human development,” they are putting together a high tech, totalitarian police state across their country and trying to spread it around the world!
For years Western intelligence agencies have warned of the influence the former Soviet Union and, now, the CCP have over the “environmental” movement! They have funded the wacko fringe groups to undermine rational policies like expanded nuclear and natural gas power, while pushing the rapid switch to Unreliable Energies like wind and solar! Even more delicious for them is the total reliance on their manufacturing that will occur as Western nations shut down their electrical infrastructure for the Nut Zero Utopia, and have to beg China for replacements every 15-20 years!
All the Chinese have to do is to continue funding the media propaganda organs and the corrupt politicians at the top of virtually every Western government. Why fight a battle when you can get your enemy to cripple himself voluntarily!?
“Why fight a battle when you can get your enemy to cripple himself voluntarily”
Always the best way
“they are putting together a high tech, totalitarian police state across their country”
What with lockdown, compulsory vaccinations and vaccine passports, the ongoing program to eliminate cash and the various ever-increasing curbs on free speech, have you noticed what’s going on in the Europe and the USA recently?
China made no such promises. China only promised to consider reducing coal usage after they finish their initial coal generating facilities rollout.
The only visible difference is that China increased their construction of nuclear generating facilities, and that China just might consider maximizing nuclear power.
Leftists jumped on every suggestion from China that China might reduce coal usage as if China had promised to stop coal usage. Which China never intended.
Notice the following article on Bloomberg. Climate change, according to Bloomberg and the alarmist media, is a threat to the existence of the human race. It is a matter of the greatest urgency that trillions be pumped into avoiding this catastrophe. That is why Bloomberg is hiding life threating information behind a paywall!!!!!
China Is Doubling Down on Coal Despite Its Green Ambitions
Nation could add more new coal capacity than the rest of the world
combined, even as it prepares to relegate the fossil fuel to a backup role.
Bloomberg News
October 31, 2022
China is building a vast array of new coal-fired power stations, potentially more than the operating capacity of the US, even though it knows the plants will probably never be fully used.
If China builds them…guaranteed…they WILL be used.
The headline NOT being stated…
CHINA SET TO REDOUBLE CO2 OUTPUT IN THE FORM OF COAL POWER.
They will be emitting near 2/3 total global emissions
And what else will not be reported is that all of this new CO2 output won’t make a noticeable or measurable difference in Climate Change®
CO2 is a Life Gas; No CO2 = No Life
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/co2-is-a-life-gas-no-co2-no-life
UN IPCC Climate Gate
The graph shows no decrease in CO2 during the 400-y Little Ice Age, LIA, from 1450 to 1850; the low temperature point was about 1700!!
Open article URL to see tables and graphs
Some years ago, the UN IPCC claimed, the LIA was merely a European climate event, because the more than 100 computer programs could not explain why CO2 in the atmosphere did not decrease with temperature during the LIA.
The UN IPCC would never admit the more than 100 computerized temperature predictions were “running hot”
However, scientists from various parts of the world claimed their countries had an LIA as well.
A red-faced IPCC had to stop making its spurious claim. See image
The LIA event is just one more proof, CO2 had nothing to do with the world’s temperature for at least 400 years.
Those laws of physics have not changed!!
APPENDIX 4
Whereas, the CO2 ppm increased from about 280 ppm in 1825 to 412 ppm in 2020, the increase in temperature due to that ppm increase was less than 0.1 C, as shown by the graph in Appendix 4.
The Appendix 4 graph shows, each 20-ppm increase of CO2 beyond 412 ppm, causes less and less of an increase in temperature!!
Any additional temperature increase, during that period, likely was due to other factors, such as reduced cloud cover
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/11/23/co2-is-innocent-but-clouds-are-guilty-new-science-has-created-a-black-swan-event/
The UN IPCC found it so convenient to blame evil, poisonous CO2, but, finally, that game is over.
APPENDIX 5
The same holds true for methane, CH4, aka natural gas, and N20, nitrous oxide
Both are used for producing fertilizers.
The world’s population could not be fed without them
For example: Some scare-mongered politicians in Sri Lanka banned fertilizers to create the appearance of being “green”, but nationwide crop failures were the result!!
China, a communist country racing to lift its people out of poverty.
The Democratic west, racing to impoverish its population.
But the West is still convinced that it is right….
“”Kingham said the 1.58 gigatonnes of carbon emissions that would be produced would pose an “unacceptable” risk of climate crisis for Queensland people and property that “had not been fully accounted for”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/25/court-finds-clive-palmers-queensland-coalmine-will-harm-future-generations-in-landmark-climate-ruling
“”In a statement for the News & Star, Ms Lucas said: “However West Cumbria Mining tries to dress this up and greenwash it with claims of being ‘net carbon zero’, its coalmine is the wrong development at the wrong time. “”
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/19550727.a-backward-step—green-party-mp-caroline-lucas-attacks-mine-plan/
The project – for steel making – is in limbo
Caroline Lucas probably doesn’t even realise that a typical wind turbine contains around 260 tonnes of steel made from 170 tonnes of coking coal or that around 1.8 billion tonnes of steel is produced worldwide annually.
Hybrit in Sweden has produced 100 tonnes of steel using a hydrogen reduction process and is scaling up to produce 1.3m tonnes pa. Others are also on this path but it will be a very long time before they replace coking coal on a worldwide basis.
Lucas’s opposition to the West Cumbria mine demonstrates her ignorance.
So the largest emitter of Green House Gases on the planet says in essence we aren’t as stupid as those numbskulls
So the West would advise China to practice fossil fuel abstinence as a climate control method. I don’t think it will work, and apparently China doesn’t either.
Primary energy is the energy of fuels, or of water, or of nuclear fuel, etc., before it is converted to electricity, heat for buildings and industrial processes, transportation, and millions of hydrocarbon-containing products, etc.
Source energy is what is taken from mines, wells, forests, etc.
The world uses about 10% of the primary energy to extract, process, and distribute the source energy as fuels
Instead of “renewables”, the article should use “wind/solar/batteries”, because that trio is the greatest part of renewables, and receives the greatest part of subsidies, and has the greatest adverse environmental impact, BY FAR.
The rest is mostly bull manure, such as wave power, or tide power.
The West unwisely underinvesting in affordable, fossil fuels, and overinvesting in the expensive, useless wind/solar/battery trio, compared to the expanding BRISC+ bloc, will be digging its own grave in less than 10 to 15 years.
“Also China’s strategies demonstrate how it is physically impossible to solely rely on wind and solar energy”
A small nation with a lot of empty land might be able to come close- but how could a nation with 1.4 billion people do it? Not even if they’re willing to keep their standard of living low- which of course is not their wish. Cover their mountains with them?
Only the South Facing Slopes. The Northern Exposure gets little direct solar input (especially at their latitude) and would prove to be ineffective. They could cover the Gobi though.
Here in my lower middle class neighborhood of about 50 houses in north central MA- most houses are small ranch homes- about half now have solar panels on their roofs- but few of the homes have south facing roofs- I see many with east and west facing roofs but most of those have large trees blocking the panels for much of the day. I should think most of these folks are not getting what they think they paid for.
As for the Gobi, I presume it has sand storms. I would think sand storms are not good for solar panels- not to mention sand dunes and the great distance from population centers. American environmentalists hate any disturbance to the land- yet they must love to see China cover its mountains with solar panels. And of course they never complain about all those new coal plants being built there.
China would undoubtedly place a convenient Communist reeducation camp there and the Comrades housed there would be in charge of keeping the dust off on a daily basis
Neighbors have recently installed solar panels on their roof. Some of the panelks are on a north-facing roof. I asked him about it, and he said that the solar-panel company said it would get some sun. Maybe, a little, early and late in the day, as we are in Southern California, but the angle of incidence is going to be low. I think that the solar-panel company was pulling his leg.
But of course the demonstrators know what the PRC would do, and act accordingly.
So, on the one hand, China corners the rare earth metals market, while on the other hand creates the greatest ‘fossil fuel’ based economy. I guess they understand that they will be able to sell the excess electricity while ever-increasing the cost of renewables by owning the majority of the materials that are vital to the ‘green’ economies. Makes sense to me.
But Elon Musk sez solar power can power the whole planet…just X no. square miles of solar panels will do the job according to Elon…..call Elon “Electric” Man.
Yes about 5.2 million mi² needed but the U.S. only covers 3.797 million mi²
And some of that land is already in use. Shall we build huge frameworks to cover NYC, SF, LA in solar panels above the cities?
YES…Block out the light in ALL Democrat strongholds so they can experience the folly of their ideals
The earth only has 52 million mi² of land available. People need to live on some. Urbanization takes about 1 million mi². Agriculture uses about 18 million mi². This leaves about 32 million mi² of which at least 1/2 is unsuitable due to physical constraints and Sun availability. So globally we have no more than 18 million mi² that Might be suitable for Solar but could be needed for increased habitation and agriculture for population increases. Then there’s all the needed Silica and Coal mining required to create the Silicon PV Cells needed to manufacture the panels and the materials to manufacture the necessary Battery Back-up required for the 20 hours daily that Solar doesn’t generate…
Just to name a few
Elon should stick to his knitting, i.e., building expensive, but virtue signaling, electric muscle cars for middle-aged men with ‘issues’.
“The wacko protesters should be gluing themselves in China if they’re really concerned about green energy progress”
Yes, but the goal of the fifth column is not to weaken the other side.
Now we see that Klaus Schwab, of WEF infamy, declares that China is a “Role Model” for the rest of the world.
Does that mean that the West’s wicked and depraved political class will follow China’s leadership in allowing energy to be inexpensive, reliable and abundant?
It is positively Orwellian to describe building out on this scale as only constructing backup for renewables.
What’s going on is the exact opposite, its building coal fired generation as the primary source with wind and solar as supplementation to it.
Consider that coal is pretty much useless as backup, because it has such long lead times to start and stop. The only way to use it is to run it continuously. At which point you are not backing up the wind and solar, you are providing the base rate supply. The only things that have start times sufficiently rapid to act as backup for wind and solar are batteries, hydro and gas.
Which is why the UK is reliant on gas for about half its power generation, despite having huge amounts of wind installed. Its just never there when you need it., and there is too much of it when you don’t.
As for the UK’s Net Zero plans. In five years to 2025 the Chinese are to install 270 Gigawatts. Guess what total power consumption is in the UK?
Around 40 Gigawatts. A bit more in winter, a bit less in summer.
Guess when peak solar is? Summer. Winter it falls to almost nothing. Guess when the blocking highs drop wind to very low levels, single figures of percent of demand? Right, its the winter when demand is highest.
That our politicians are insane on this subject is obvious and has been for years now. But what we see in Bloomberg is that all critical thinking on the subject has been abandoned even by the financial press.
Its like saying that if I drive to 300 miles to Scotland with my bike in the trunk to take occasional rides during my vacation, that I am using my car as standby backup for my green bike transport. Mad.
Avoid the Green deal, another Great leap.
America had a brilliant plan to get China – and Russia – fully alongside in the climate and net zero agenda. Their plan was this: let’s declare these countries and people to be evil and racially defective and wage war on them. What could possibly go wrong? How could that not succeed in obtaining the willing partnership of these – or any other – countries – in the climate Ponzi scheme? What could they have missed?
Making wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and all the goodies that make them able to transmit the energy is REALLY energy intensive. The only way the developed countries can make any way into their journey to Nut Zero is for China to dramatically ramp up its energy production. That can only be done with lots of coal.
So those cheering on the transition should be happy to see China burning a lot more coal to make all the stuff required for the developed worlds transition.
Not sure a 165 MW coal plant can function as backup for wind and solar. A possible solution is distributed gas fired turbines in the 20 to 50 MW size. Any decent academic work out there anyone can reference?
Full Measure Sheryl Atkinson 11/27/2022
Europe has spent $800 Billion in direct costs on Green Energy and reliability has fallen, costs have increased, reliability has fallen, dependence on fossil fuels persists, and CO2 has continued to climb.
Here is the article reviewed:
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2022/08/EU-Climate-Policy-Failure.pdf
Biden brags the US is going to spend $369 billion to replicate the EU Failure. These people actually seem to think that the Government can stop the climate from changing.
Another point made is that industrialization and green energy are basically incompatible. This is basically a masterful Marxist strategy of how to get Capitalist Countries to destroy themselves.