China gaat de steenkoolproductie verder opvoeren. De klimaathoax is in haar visie een westers probleem – voor het westen. China wil goedkope energie.

Dat Chinese wetenschappers geen geloof hechten aan het discours dat CO₂ verantwoordelijk is voor de klimaatverandering wil in het westen bijna niemand weten. Maar de consequentie is dat de omgang met een delfstof als steenkool daardoor fundamenteel anders: is; de energie die men in China extra opwekt met steenkool wordt vaak ingezet voor ventilatoren.

Despite global expectations to move away from coal, demand in China is still strong, as rising global temperatures causing heat waves are driving up electricity demand and coal prices.  Thermal coal futures reached record highs in July as a heatwave in China sent electricity use soaring. In industrial areas of the country such as Zhejiang near Shanghai, electricity use exceeded 100 million kilowatts per hour as temperatures rose to 37 degrees Celsius.

In China is in een warme zomer  de groeiende vraag derhalve een reden om meer kolen te stoken; de bevolking zou er anders maar ontevreden van worden. En anders dan bij de mandarijnen in Brussel is ontevredenheid onder de bevolking niet iets dat in China licht wordt opgenomen..

In response to the high energy usage across the country, coal prices exceeded 900 yuan (almost $140) a tonne in mid-July. This follows record prices for Asian coal in May, after an initially pessimistic outlook following the IEA report encouraging countries to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable alternatives.
In spite of growing international pressure, coal continues to boom across much of Asia, with China at the helm. Although China is attempting to move away from coal, rationing electricity use to battle the rising demand of the major polluter, hot temperatures are forcing the government to keep on producing as well as importing to meet this demand.

.“Southern China has been very hot, and the daily power load is consistently breaking new highs,” Huatai Futures Co. analyst Wang Haitao stated.

In Japan is iets dergelijks waarneembaar:

Chief Executive Paul Flynn of Australia’s Whitehaven Coal explained on the rise in demand, “We are also getting requests to bring cargos forward from our Japanese customers as well, that certainly indicated that the market is a little short and more coal is required.”
The unlikely recovery of the energy source, which much of Europe and other regions have already moved away from, is owing largely to growing Asian demand. In fact, since the beginning of 2021, the price of Australian coal has risen by 86 percent, sitting at over $150 a tonne towards the end of July, the highest the market has seen since September 2008. Likewise, South African coal has climbed 44 percent in 2021.

Met als gevolg dat de vraag naar kolen groeit – en groeien blijft.

---

Meer over China – politiek en economisch – vindt u hier.