China Cancels 103 Coal Plants, Mindful of Smog and Wasted Capacity

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

China Cancels 103 Coal Plants, Mindful of Smog and Wasted Capacity

By MICHAEL FORSYTHE JAN. 18, 2017

China is canceling plans to build more than 100 coal-fired power plants, seeking to rein in runaway, wasteful investment in the sector while moving the country away from one of the dirtiest forms of electricity generation, the government announced in a directive made public this week.

The announcement, made by Chinas National Energy Administration, cancels 103 projects that were planned or under construction, eliminating 120 gigawatts of future coal-fired capacity. That includes dozens of projects in 13 provinces, mostly in Chinas coal-rich north and west, on which construction had already begun. Those projects alone would have had a combined output of 54 gigawatts, more than the entire coal-fired capacity of Germany, according to figures compiled by Greenpeace.

The cancellations make it likelier that China will meet its goal of limiting its total coal-fired power generation capacity to 1,100 gigawatts by 2020. That huge figure, three times the total coal-fired capacity in the United States, is far more than China needs. Its coal plants now run at about half of capacity, and new sources of power, such as wind, solar and nuclear, are coming online at a fast clip.

Nevertheless, Chinas capacity would have surged well past the 1,100-gigawatt mark by 2020 had it not begun canceling coal-fired plants that were in the works. The new announcements are in addition to a series of project cancellations detailed last year.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/world/asia/china-coal-power-plants-pollution.html

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First order of business, Monday morning afternoon: threaten China with nuclear war if they don't change their mind.

[geomon666]

1. Those rural Chinese voters must be pissed.

Look at all of those great coal jobs lost.

[Igel]

7. Only in a non-factual analysis.

The capacity's already far exceeding demand.

In other word, these plants would be build and left to sit, idle.

1 lbs of coal is sufficient for fuel a coal-powered utility plant's electrical general for years. Imagine, a series of coal-powered plants that produce nearly 0 carbon emissions. Less than your family dog or cat.

In this case, it's infrastructure jobs. But at the same time it allows China to claim carbon cuts (against planned capacity, not actual likely emissions, much less actual emissions). Useful PR weapon. For whose who confuse PR with reality.

[yallerdawg]

2. Chinese megacities demonstrate we do have an impact on our environment.

We went through the same thing in the late 20th century. Cleaned it up.

I cannot imagine where Corrupt Trump gets his ideas from.

[dalton99a]

3. Trump: "China is so dumb. Sad!"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. And now the news for the hearing impaired:

I'm reposting, as I have a hard time embedding links in the original post in LBN. The article had links.

China Cancels 103 Coal Plants, Mindful of Smog and Wasted Capacity

By MICHAEL FORSYTHE JAN. 18, 2017

China is canceling plans to build more than 100 coal-fired power plants, seeking to rein in runaway, wasteful investment in the sector while moving the country away from one of the dirtiest forms of electricity generation, the government announced in a directive made public this week.

The announcement, made by Chinas National Energy Administration, cancels 103 projects that were planned or under construction, eliminating 120 gigawatts of future coal-fired capacity. That includes dozens of projects in 13 provinces, mostly in Chinas coal-rich north and west, on which construction had already begun. Those projects alone would have had a combined output of 54 gigawatts, more than the entire coal-fired capacity of Germany, according to figures compiled by Greenpeace.

The cancellations make it likelier that China will meet its goal of limiting its total coal-fired power generation capacity to 1,100 gigawatts by 2020. That huge figure, three times the total coal-fired capacity in the United States, is far more than China needs. Its coal plants now run at about half of capacity, and new sources of power, such as wind, solar and nuclear, are coming online at a fast clip.

Nevertheless, Chinas capacity would have surged well past the 1,100-gigawatt mark by 2020 had it not begun canceling coal-fired plants that were in the works. The new announcements are in addition to a series of project cancellations detailed last year.

[matt819]

5. China will probably buy its coal from third world countries

You know, those countries that don't care about the environmental impact of using coal or the devastation caused by the mining of coal.

Like, say, the United States.

[Calista241]

6. Hopefully Trump and McConnell will see the writing on the wall.

But I'm not particularly hopeful.