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Despite the trade wars with the United States and the crown crisis that has paralyzed large sectors of society, China is now setting new records in its industrial activities.
And thus new records of emissions of gases hostile to the climate.
– Definitely worrying
A large increase in steel and cement production is the main reason China’s CO emissions set a new record in the third quarter, writes Energiogklima.no.
– The fact that steel production and cement consumption have now increased is clearly worrying. They are the biggest consumers of coal and are among the biggest sources of carbon emissions and air pollution, says lead researcher Gørild Merethe Heggelund from Dagbladet’s Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI).
Fell by 25 percent
When the community was closed in January and February, it could be seen from satellite images that the air quality improved considerably. China’s CO emissions from cement and fossil energy production fell 25 percent when the country was shut down as a result of COVID-19 in January this year.
But since May, emissions have risen again dramatically, reaching a new high in the third quarter, three percent higher than the same quarter of 2019, analyst Lauri Myllyvirta writes in a new analysis published in CarbonBrief.
COMPLETE FART: A lot of money has been injected into Chinese industry and emissions are increasing. This photo was taken on the outskirts of Beijing. Photo: Reuters / NTB Scanpix.
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The biggest in the world
The large increase in CO2 emissions is due in particular to increased activity in the steel and cement industry. Earlier this year, the Chinese government injected billions of crowns to keep the industry afloat, which has paid off. China now accounts for up to 58 percent of the world’s total steel production.
WORRIED: FNI’s Gørild Merethe Heggelund is concerned about increasing CO₂ emissions in China. Photography: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB.
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– The Covid-19 pandemic has not put a brake on the Chinese economy. The government provided a $ 430 billion stimulus package to the industry, resulting in economic growth of 5 percent in the third quarter. Right now, the world sees that they are increasing production, but at the same time they have presented a green action plan for the period 2021-2035 that addresses how to reduce emissions. It gives hope, says Heggelund.
– Why do you think they are increasing production now?
– There has been a gradual increase in steel production since 2018. It is a complex issue, but you can imagine that you are trying to achieve higher production to remedy the trade war against the United States, says Heggelund.
Increase in steel production by 10 percent.
It doesn’t bode well for carbon emissions. The steel industry is the largest Chinese consumer of coal energy and the main source of air pollution. From July to September, steel production increased by as much as 10 percent. During the same period, cement production also increased by five percent.
INDUSTRIBOOM: Several large construction projects and increased steel production have led to much higher activity in China. Photo: Reuters / NTB / Scanpix.
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There was also an increase in gas and oil consumption. The same happened with construction materials.
Several coal-fired power plants
In 2014, the Chinese provinces gained more autonomy for investment. This led to the construction of a number of new coal-fired power plants across the country. Now the question is whether the new five-year plan, which will be approved in March next year by the People’s Congress, which is China’s highest political body, will set energy and climate ambitions.
– I think they will, but in the same way that Norway cannot stop oil production overnight, I think China should go through a transition phase quickly and replace coal with other energy sources. It’s a complex problem in which tens of millions of people make their living in the coal industry, and it must necessarily take a few years before the change is complete, Heggelund says.
China’s powerful leader, Xi Jinping, has announced that the country will reach an emissions peak by 2030. At the same time, he announced at the UN General Assembly that China will be carbon neutral by 2060.
– The Chinese economy has been very dependent on coal. The demand for energy in China is huge and a few years ago more than 70 percent of total energy demand was based on coal. This proportion has been reduced, but it is a question of whether this process should not go even faster.
You want a green change
She believes that China has a clear self-interest in reducing coal use and pollution.
– They want an ecological change, with a focus on innovation and technology, both from a public health perspective and that they have a large agricultural sector. They are also heavily affected by drought, floods, or other natural disasters related to climate change, Gørild Merethe Heggelund tells Dagbladet.
