Home » For coal, the avenue of sunset has begun (waiting for the big names)

For coal, the avenue of sunset has begun (waiting for the big names)

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However, the major users of coal are missing from the signatories of this more binding agreement: the United States, Australia, India and China. In September, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said that Beijing would no longer finance the construction of new coal plants in foreign countries, without however clarifying how China would behave on the domestic front.

For Chris Littlecott, director of the E3G think tank, “this commitment to coal is a big step forward and would have been unthinkable a year or two ago”. For E3G, despite the growth in consumption in India and China, coal is really on its way to decline, if only because renewable sources are becoming increasingly competitive and in many cases the dirtiest of fossil fuels is no longer worth it.

According to a study by the British think tank, since the Paris climate agreements were signed, projects for new coal plants around the world have collapsed, from 1,553 gigawatts in 2015 to 482 gigawatts in 2021, considering the plants announced. , those who are applying for authorizations (pre-permit), those authorized and those under construction.

Three-quarters of the projects, 1,175 gigawatts in all, were canceled, while 327 gigawatts of new plants went into operation. In practice, thanks to the canceled projects, a second China was avoided adding to the total coal-fired capacity, which today has about 1,047 gigawatts of installed power. 90% of the projects currently underway, the report highlights, are located in just six countries: in addition to China, there are India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey and Bangladesh.

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However, in a recent report by Ember, an independent think-tank specializing in the analysis of energy markets, it is explained that in India, where there are 27 gigawatts of new coal plants under construction, it is much cheaper to invest in renewable sources with accumulate, so much so that coal projects are defined as “zombie plants”.

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