A vast mountain of coal suggests we’re turning the corner on rising global emissions, says Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling.
A machine is operated on the storage of coal at a coal-fired power plant in Wuhan in central China 's Hubei province on July 4, 2024. . Even after declining by about half since 2008, output last year was still about 527 million metric tonnes, the fourth-biggest total globally.
The campaign has been wildly effective: China has accounted for about 97 per cent of the world’s increase in coal production since 2018. Now, however, it has been left with a vast and slowly deteriorating pile of solid fuel. Instead, it’s more like a silo of corn that degrades and loses value the longer it’s left. Over time, it reacts with oxygen in the air and gradually loses potency. In extreme cases, this can cause stockpiles to heat up and ignite spontaneously. Even in less dramatic cases, a pile can lose about a quarter of its energy content each year.
Commentary: China is still the world’s biggest emitter, but also an emerging force in climate diplomacyThe best explanation for current elevated costs north of 800 yuan per metric tonne at Qinhuangdao is that the port’s benchmark is based on relatively high-grade coal, which is not so easy to get your hands on in the China of 2024.
At the same time, it gives the lie to some of the arguments about the resilience of China’s coal sector. Mine production has indeed remained pretty strong in 2024 - up more than 3 per cent in June and July, a sweltering period when air conditioning has boosted electricity demand in recent years.With such an enormous pile of fuel sitting around unused, however, it’s consumption by end users that really matters.
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