By Vijay Jayaraj
Globally, winter cold kills more people than summer heat, and winter in Central Asia is no gentle visitor. Temperatures can plummet to minus 40°C (-40°F), transforming bustling cities into frozen landscapes and testing the limits of human endurance.
Rich in history and diverse in geography, the region is also known for biting cold that tests the resilience of its inhabitants. The winter struggle is especially intense in rural areas, where shelter and other infrastructure are often rudimentary. Wood and coal have long been used for heat.
For example, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan – three Central Asian countries seldom mentioned in the media – rely heavily on abundant coal reserves for heat and energy. They all have insecure energy systems, and their major cities regularly face power blackouts in Winter.
However, this economical energy source, along with natural gas and oil, have come under attack by international political institutions like the European Union and United Nations and leftist politicians and funding entities. Armed with the pseudoscience of climate change, fearmongering opportunists are seeking to ban the fuels that are a lifeline for the people of Central Asia.
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan generate more than 95% of their electricity from gas, oil and coal. Uzbekistan is set to increase coal production by 22% and is conducting geological exploration across 31 thousand square kilometers of new sites. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is increasing oil production and plans to increase exports to Eastern Europe.
Kyrgyzstan has more than 33% of its population living in poverty, making it significantly poorer than Uzbekistan (17% in poverty) to the west and Kazakhstan (5%) to the north. Half of Kyrgyzstan depends on traditional coal-fired stoves for cooking, and nearly all citizens depend on solid fuels such as wood, coal, and rubber for winter heating.
Raw coal prices have risen so sharply that nonprofits now are giving out free coal for families in Kyrgyzstan to stay warm. In 2021, people queued for hours in freezing weather to receive coal handouts from the government.
“In a cold winter, we burn about 5-6 (metric) tonnes,” says a Kyrgyz housewife. “It is expensive for us to buy coal at 5,500 soms ($62 a tonne). Therefore, I stand in line for three-four hours. And what are we supposed to do, freeze?”
More than 90% of Kyrgyzstan’s electricity comes from hydroelectric plants, which allows it to export the generated electricity during times of surplus. Though hydropower is a valuable resource, such high dependency on it increases the risk of power shortages in winter, which is one of the drier seasons in this relatively arid country.
Kyrgyzstan is now supplementing winter energy supplies with imported electricity from Tajikistan and recently signed contracts for importing 2 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Supplies have proven to be insufficient, nonetheless. Speaking about power blackouts in January, Kyrgyz Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibrayev noted, “Electricity consumption has grown many times over, and daily usage has increased by 20.5 million kilowatt/hours. We were ready for anything but emergency power outages. We did not take such abnormal cold into consideration.”
The most obvious solution to filling its energy needs are Kyrgyzstan’s coal reserves. Undeterred by the political noise of climate change, Kyrgyzstan is embarking on an ambitious program to increase coal production with advanced technology and by privatizing mines. Mining has increased by around 30% during the past 15 years. Most of the mined coal is brown coal, or lignite, an inferior fuel that is mostly exported. The demand for higher quality coal is met predominantly by imports.
To bolster the movement of electricity imports and exports, the country is investing in the 500‑kilovolt Datka-Khodjent-Sangtuda power transmission line connecting Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. There is also a long-term partnership with Gazprom to improve gas supply in the country.
In addition to withstanding the annual assault of winter, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan all have interests in overall security and economic development that make exploitation of natural resources like fossil fuels all the more important.
Despite the overwhelming need to develop hydrocarbon resources, restrictive climate policies press in the opposite direction. Influenced by the politics of a global green agenda, Uzbekistan’s lawmakers are aiming for a renewable energy target of 27 GW by 2030, proposing that the country should get 40% of electricity from non-fossil fuel sources. This will divert attention to expensive and unreliable wind and solar sources rather than to immediate problems like an outdated power infrastructure.
Analysts at The Diplomat say, “In Kyrgyzstan, the degree of deterioration of the power system reached 50% and now causes up to 80% of emergency shutdowns. … Without addressing the problems of outdated power transmission infrastructure, the contribution of sustainable energy transition initiatives to preventing future energy crises will still be limited.”
Climate politics has no place in the frigid expanses of Central Asia, and the region must steer clear of costly green mistakes.
This commentary was first published at Real Clear Energy on February 26, 2024.
Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, U.K.
I guess the central Asian countries won’t get their climate reparations slated to come their way via Obamao’s, Cherry’s I mean Kerry’s and Bidet’s farcical Paris Climate Accord. That’ll learn’em!
People in other parts of the world, have absolutely no idea how bitterly cold and deadly this area often is. The elites pushing these wind/power “alternatives” have never had their ears, or nose, or feet frozen, nor felt the biting cold on their lungs.
Agree – worked in Kazakhstan for 5 years; -30 is no joke (the worst was -51)
I see a -51C on the map now.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2024/02/27/1000Z/wind/isobaric/500hPa/overlay=temp/orthographic=-59.06,71.67,264/loc=112.731,54.268
I wonder if the El Nino circulation pattern keeps the really cold arctic air bottled up on the side of the hemisphere opposite the United States and Europe?
Is this why central Asia is getting extremely cold weather while on the opposite side of the hemisphere, the weather is very mild? We are supposed to hit 84F today here in the central U.S, while it is -51C in central Asia.
I once visited the Calgary area with minus 28C measured and minus 40C wind chill. Moving around outdoors was unpleasant and could be deadly in a blink without proper precautions. People who live in these conditions are tough people.
Rick, on Jan 13 it was -41 here in Calgary without windchill, I think Edmonton windchill hit -53.
Was nasty.
i worked drilling rigs in the north in the 90s, I found that one good thing is you can’t really tell much difference below -35C, it’s all the same at that point.
i did work once at below -50.
one thing to witness is the north at -50, the air is dead, no thermals, so you can hear an icicle falling off a tree branch a kilometer away. Weirdly beautiful and scary
Ultimately, the human instinct for self preservation / survival when faced with nature’s determination to kill off all current living species in order for evolution to replace them with more competitive species, will make people revolt against irrational rules imposed on them to ensure that ‘nature’ wins.
In any place where it gets to 40 below, an emergency second source of heat is necessary. My temp got to -17°F (-27°C) this past December. Even a decently insulated residence cools quickly at such a low temperature.
Those promoting “green” electric heat should acknowledge the need for an independent backup. [ Coldest ever for me was -33°F. ]
Interesting that the brown coal gets exported. My understanding is that it is difficult to transport and that a better approach is to generate electricity using it near source and then to transport the electricity to where it is needed. Which would typically mean using it in its home country rather than exporting it. Of course that would also mean less importing.
These greens are destructive maniacs. The sooner everyone is shot of them, the better
Mike, remember that all these countries used to be Soviet republics. Believe their data at your own peril.
“. . . everyone is shot of them . . . .”
Did you mean if everyone is ‘rid’ of them?
America and England, two countries divided by a common language (W S Churchill)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/get-be-shot-of
No. They speak American in the USA, whilst we speak English in the UK. They are 2 distinctly separate languages, despite a few words in common – don’t be fooled into thinking they are one language, they are most definitely not.
Yeah but your interpretation spoils Churchill’s comment. So there. 🙂
Story Tip??
QLD Supreme Court declares Police and Ambulance vaccine mandates unlawful – Rebel News
That is a lot of coal. If they were heating for 200 days than that works out at 200kWh per day. Even if 40% of the heat is lost that is still 120kWh per day or equivalent of running a 5kW electric heater continuously.
They will not be able to live there much longer if the UN wins.
Could be a sprawling farmhouse and animals to keep warm as well I suppose.
Australia is blessed from a climate perspective. Even just north of Bass Strait 20kg of wood a day is big burn for me.
It seems like that, being ‘all scientific’ about it.
But it only turns into 25 to 30kg per day – do we say a 4-stone bag/sack= as you might find, certainly used to find, here in the UK
If all you have is a smoky old fireplace, (maybe with a ‘back-boiler’ and a hanger for a cooking pot) in your living room, I know from experience even in ‘temperate’ Cumbria in north west England, a four stone (25kg) bag of coal does not last very long
The Eurasian continent is enormous which means that its interior can become quite isolated from warm air being transported from low to high latitudes. If, in addition, the continental interior has high ground elevation, then it becomes even colder in winter because humidity is a strong function of altitude, and dried air radiates so readily from ground straight to space. This is true of North America as well. Winter temperatures where I live easily fall to -40F multiple times a decade. This winter we only managed -28F. Our coldest ever record is -50F set, I think, in 1962 or 63, and yet we are just slightly north of 40 degrees north latitude — not subarctic by any stretch of the imagination.
Oh, I forgot to mention that high ground elevation also means that “work” which is a commonly unrecognized component of the first law as it is used in atmospheric sciences has a very large effect on internal energy, which is to say temperature.
Let the Central Asians use their fossil fuel resources to improve their lives and build their societies. The eco loons who don’t like it can start walking their talk by abandoning use of any devices, materials, food stuffs or creature comforts that rely on fossil fuels. When they do that we’ll maybe believe they are acting out of sincere concern and with integrity, rather than just seeking attention while lazing about doing nothing productive for anyone.
Sounds like a great location for a GOP get-together, in winter of course.
Come to think of it, maybe relocate the UN there. All the ‘hot air’ might help some.
Asia has had a nasty cold winter, they are paying for our wonderful warm one here in western canada, except for a few exceptionally cold days in January, but what goes around comes around and I expect a nasty winter next year as payback.