Report: China is burning way more coal than we thought
A report from The New York Times says China is burning a billion tons more coal than previously thought. What does this mean for the country's goal to reach an emissions peak by 2030?
A report from The New York Times says China is burning a billion tons more coal than previously thought. What does this mean for the country's goal to reach an emissions peak by 2030?
China is emitting far more pollution from coal than the government has previously reported, according to The New York Times.
The Times reports that the country has been burning 17 percent more coal annually than once thought, equating to a billion more tons each year. That increase alone is equal to about 70 percent of what the world's second largest coal polluter, the United States, consumes every year.
While China has pledged to stall growth in its carbon emissions by 2030, this new development poses serious challenges to that goal and broader efforts to address climate change. 聽
But why were emissions so drastically underreported in the first place? According to the Times, inadequate data collection may be the culprit:
The same problematic data collection occurred in China during the late 1990s, when small coal mines were told to shut down but many continued operating without telling the government their output. This contributed to a mirage that suggested China had achieved economic growth while cutting emissions. 聽
In August, 海角大神 reported on a study that actually argued China鈥檚 total CO2 emissions are overestimated:
The Monitor also reported on a study that said China would achieve its goal of an emissions peak five years ahead of schedule, in 2025.
But these new revelations complicate that estimate and provide for an awkward preface to the upcoming United Nations climate talks in Paris, in which nearly 200 countries will convene to establish an agreement aimed at curbing global greenhouse-gas emissions.
While the new data suggests China鈥檚 emissions peak may be higher, it also may indeed come sooner.
鈥淚 think this implies that we鈥檙e closer to a peak, because there鈥檚 also been a falloff in coal consumption in the past couple of years,鈥� Yang Fuqiang, a former energy official in China who now advises the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Times.