Tool Monkeys!! Fuck Yeah!! Global Coal Power Capacity Up By Nearly 70 GW In 2023
The worlds coal power capacity grew for the first time since 2019 last year, despite warnings that coal plants need to close at a rate of at least 6% each year to avoid a climate emergency. A report by Global Energy Monitor found that coal power capacity grew by 2% last year, driven by an increase in new coal plants across China and a slowdown of plant closures in Europe and the US.
About 69.5 gigawatts (GW) of coal plant capacity came online last year, of which two-thirds were built in China, according to the report. There were also plants built in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea, Greece and Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, a slowdown in coal plant shutdowns in the US and Europe led to more than 21GW retiring last year. This resulted in a net annual increase of almost 48.5GW for the year, the highest since 2016.
The authors of the report said coal plants needed to shut at a faster pace, and that China needed to adopt stricter controls on its expansion of capacity. Flora Champenois, a Global Energy Monitor analyst, said: Otherwise we can forget about meeting our goals in the Paris agreement and reaping the benefits that a swift transition to clean energy will bring,.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/11/worlds-coal-power-capacity-rises-despite-climate-warnings
Climate scientists have said all coal plants should be shut by 2040 unless they are fitted with effective carbon-removal technology if governments hope to limit global heating to within 1.5C of pre-industrialised levels.