(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) As progressive politicians in Western nations clamour for renewable energy sources that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese Communist Party has abandoned its commitment to reduce emissions.
The Chinese Communist Party will spend nearly $108 billion on major infrastructure projects, and some of that funding will support 17 new coal mines, The Times reported.
Yet these new additons are a fraction of China‘s total coal output.
The country has more than 3,000 coal mines. Between 2017 and 2018, China increased its coal mining capacity by 194 million tonnes.
And despite China’s commitment to slow coal imports, a new report reveals that the nation has increased its coal imports by almost 10 percent so far this year, Reuters reported.
Last year, China imported more than 281 million tons of coal. Reports show that Chinese coal imports are closing in on 276 million tons with two months remaining in the year.
Coal producers expect the trend to continue.
“Signs are emerging of a modest recovery in coal import volumes into China, which has led to recent market speculation that the Chinese government may allow a relatively modest uplift in annual imports to around 300 million tonnes,” said Whitehaven Coal Ltd, Australia’s largest independent coal producer.
A report from Patricia Adams at the Global Warming Policy Foundation titled, “The Road from Paris: China’s Climate U-turn,” found that China’s increased coal usage will outweigh the decline in fossil fuel usage in Western nations.
“The Chinese have spent a lot of money on renewables without results on anything like the scale required,” Adams said. “So despite their continuing outward support for the green agenda, China is actually going all out for fossil fuels. The Communist Party’s grip on power depends on it.”
“Just a few years ago, China was lauded as a climate saviour,” Adams continued. “That’s all in the past now.”
The Chinese government said it would cap its carbon emissions in 2030, even though other nations in the Paris Climate Accord agreed to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
China is in its sixth year of the “War on Pollution,” an attempt to reverse the smog caused by being the world’s largest coal consumer, but this has not deterred the nation from using coal as an energy source.
Li Keqiang, the premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, described the country’s energy strategy at a speech before China’s National Energy Commission.
“Given our country’s bounty of coal resources . . . [we should] promote the safe, green extraction of coal and development of clean and efficient coal,” Mr Li said, The Times reported.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said the global coal trade will grow through 2050, as Asian countries continue to depend upon coal to meet their energy needs, according to its International Energy Outlook 2019, S&P Global reported.
“In most regions, coal production and consumption are projected to remain near current levels with long-term growth expected in India and non-OECD Asia,” the report said.
