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China's Installed Renewables Achieved Yet Another Record in 2024 (financialpost.com) 152

China broke its own record in installing renewable power in 2024, as the world's top polluter continues to push its energy transition while the US shifts away from fighting climate change. From a report: The world's second-largest economy added roughly 277 gigawatts of solar last year, surpassing the previous year's record of 217 gigawatts, the National Energy Administration said in a statement on Tuesday.

It also added nearly 80 gigawatts of wind, according to the statement. The record installation means China has hit its 2030 renewables target six years early. This stands in contrast to the US, the world's second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, where new President Donald Trump has started implementing a hard pivot back to fossil fuels and withdrawn from the Paris climate pact.

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China's Installed Renewables Achieved Yet Another Record in 2024

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  • No surprise (Score:3, Informative)

    by korgitser ( 1809018 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @10:16AM (#65105785)

    China is investing in renewables more than the rest of the world does in fossil fuels. Pretty much all of their curent economic growth comes from renewables, and they are carrying the worlds 2030 goals pretty much singlehandedly.

    Make no mistake, they are still investing in fossils, too, but there seems to be a certain direction they are heading. No surprise there, too, they are going to be hit hard by climate change by mid-century, and they are doing what they can to soften that blow.

    • Re:No surprise (Score:5, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @10:27AM (#65105799) Homepage Journal

      No surprise there, too, they are going to be hit hard by climate change by mid-century, and they are doing what they can to soften that blow.

      This won't do that. They are installing renewables for economic reasons. They want more power, and it's the cheapest way to get it. It's pretty sad that our adversaries get how it works, but we've been dumbed down too much in the quest to produce low-information voters for us to understand.

      • But it's only the cheapest way to do it because they invested so much in renewable manufacture.

        It's a choice. A choice we also could have made 15 years ago if we'd felt like it.

        • But it's only the cheapest way to do it because they invested so much in renewable manufacture.

          They could buy everything from other nations and it would still be cheapest.

      • You're right that alternatives are profitable and so the same applies to the USA. Their politicians at all levels should be doing all that is reasonable to support it. Instead they and are doing their country a disservice by selling out to donors in an expensive outdated fossil fuel industry. Their followers and NIMBYs are also blocking alternatives at the local and state level.
        • You're right that alternatives are profitable and so the same applies to the USA.

          I think the problem is that China is adding power at a rate that is barely keeping up with the increase in demand. In the United States the economics of power is that we need to replace existing power sources which are still productive. For China the choice is new renewables vs a newly built coal plant. In the United States the choice has been new renewables vs an already existing coal plant. Only recently has the economics of that choice shifted to renewables.

          This is not the only area where emerging econo

          • "We have made competing with China political. But the reality is we would be better off figuring out how to become a valuable partner."

            We tried that. We made ourselves valuable to China. It did not endear us to them and they did not start following the WTO rules they promised to follow.

            • they did not start following the WTO rules they promised to follow.

              You mean they did the same thing the US does. They only followed WTO decisions when it was in their interest. There are plenty of countries in the world that violate the WTO decisions including ones that we have a lot of trade with. And we refuse to follow WTO decisions when we don't agree.

              • So the WTO is a joke is what I'm hearing.

                Kind of like the UN, where the UNSC members can do whatever they want and everyone else can go hang. Whatever they want to do amongst themselves is more or less fine, unless it conflicts with what the big boys want, in which case fuck off.

                Essentially, there is not and never has been such a thing as the rule of law, and any suggestion otherwise is a farce.

                • Farce? Not really. International law has always been a loose collection of aspirations with limited enforcement ability. It serves a purpose of defining expectations and that in itself is useful. It creates constraints on everyone to justify their actions. If the United States decides to invade Mexico, there will be appeals to international law. But no one is going to stop us.
      • No surprise there, too, they are going to be hit hard by climate change by mid-century, and they are doing what they can to soften that blow.

        This won't do that. They are installing renewables for economic reasons. They want more power, and it's the cheapest way to get it.

        Yes they want the cheapest energy. Hence their continued and growing use of coal overall. It's cheaper, and in some regions local, compared to something less polluting like natural gas. If environmentalism were really a concern, than the cleaner natural gas would be used as the bridge to renewables, not a bridge of coal. As you say, it's about cost, nothing more, hence the still growing use of coal as fast as it can be dug up locally or imported. Renewables are supplementing coal, not displacing it.

        "Shar

        • Another one who does know how a power transition works and magically thinks that you can make a different power system without using the current one
          • by drnb ( 2434720 )

            Another one who does know how a power transition works ...

            Building more of the same, coal, is not a transition. Again, they are supplementing coal with renewables, not transitioning from coal. They are still increasing coal usage. They are transitioning from oil and natural gas, which is more expensive than coal.

            ... and magically thinks that you can make a different power system without using the current one

            They have built both coal plants and natural gas plants. Choosing to use the less expensive but greater polluting coal as a bridge to renewables is purely a cost related move, nothing to do with environmental considerations.

            Again, there is no transitio

            • Yes there is a transition. How the hell do you expect them to get more power to make more renewables?? Are you expecting one or 2 renewables driven plants to make enough solar/wind power kit at the speed they are doing? Their coal power plants are being used as "peaker" plants [sustainabi...umbers.com]
              • by drnb ( 2434720 )

                Yes there is a transition. How the hell do you expect them to get more power to make more renewables?

                The transition is from oil and natural gas, not from coal. Coal, the most polluting of the various options, is still increasing in usage overall. There is no transition from coal. It is their preferred option due to low cost.

                We need a bridge to renewable, but coal? That is the most environmentally counter productive option.

        • China is expected to hit peak emissions this year and then start dropping - transition takes decades and until you understand that you'll keep whining
          • China is expected to hit peak emissions this year and then start dropping ...

            Apologists say that every year, but this year will be different? LOL.

            ... transition takes decades and until you understand that you'll keep whining

            Again, there is no transition from coal, only ongoing increasing usage. The transition is from oil and natural gas, they are more expensive than coal.

            Pointing out the reality of the increased usage of coal is not whining. Its the most polluting of the various options. Climate change is an existential crisis, isn't it?

          • by drnb ( 2434720 )

            China is expected to hit peak emissions this year and then start dropping - transition takes decades and until you understand that you'll keep whining

            That "expectation" is not matching reality.

            "Despite its commitment to "phase down" coal, China recently has been permitting and constructing coal plants at rates not seen in a decade."

            "[China consumes over half of the world’s coal and contributes more than 20% of global CO2 emissions from coal combustion. "

            [October 08, 2024]
            https://today.ucsd.edu/story/d... [ucsd.edu]

        • Why don't you separate out the total emissions generated in China by the West outsourcing their manufacturing etc to China? Subtract that amount from China's total and add those to the respective countries totals and you'll find China is not as bad as you think. The pollution would have been caused anyway but all over the West instead of just China.
          • Why don't you separate out the total emissions generated in China by the West outsourcing their manufacturing etc to China?

            I agree the west outsources a lot of pollution to China via the outsourcing of manufacturing, it's a form of US and EU greenwashing. However this is part of China's predatory trade practices, they offer lower prices via environmental abuse and labor abuse. It's part of their plan, it's not forced upon them. So yes, the pollution of manufacturing is on them. They could use better practices as the US and EU would, but they choose not to in order to garner more exports.

      • People could help by publicising that USA is still the largest cumulative producer of CO2 since 1750 and China hasn't reached that level yet
    • China is investing in renewables ... Make no mistake, they are still investing in fossils, too, but there seems to be a certain direction they are heading. No surprise there, too, they are going to be hit hard by climate change by mid-century, and they are doing what they can to soften that blow.

      Not really. Renewables are supplementing coal not displacing it. They are burning coal as fast as they can dig it up and import it. Coal usage overall is still on an upwards trend. If they were truly concerned about climate change they would be getting rid of the dirtiest fist, getting rid of coal first, then oil, then natural gas. Use the less polluting natural gas, rather than coal, as a bridge to renewables. But we're seeing the opposite, coal displacing nat gas since coal is cheaper and/or local to a re

      • Your links are out of date and the world and China have moved on since then
        • by drnb ( 2434720 )

          Your links are out of date and the world and China have moved on since then

          Q1 Q2 2024 compared Q1 Q2 2023 is quite up to date, and shows continued usage of coal overall. Just like 2023 and 2022 in total.

          The only thing China has moved away from is oil and natural gas, they cost more than coal. So coal use continues to grow overall, including the first half of 2024 as the links show.

  • by Smonster ( 2884001 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @10:37AM (#65105827)
    Cool. Now how much did its fossil fuel consumption increase at the same time? Hint: by even more. China is by far the world’s largest polluter. While it is certainly better than if all the new power coming online were fossil fuels, they need to get a handle on their pollution problem. Because it is everyone’s problem. The world can’t wait for China to finally decide it is time to become a responsible member of the world’s nations. They need to act now.
    • Yes, but they plan on cutting back. They built coal power plants with the intention of shutting them down soon. They were modernizing and under a serious power crunch. It is easier to build a coal plant near where the power is needed than it is to run power lines from solar panels in a far away desert. So they are doing both.
      • Yes, but they plan on cutting back. They built coal power plants with the intention of shutting them down soon.

        Yes, because governments routinely build lots and lots of infrastructure to just shut it down within a few years. Do you even know how things work?

        • During WWII, governments built all sorts of aircraft factories and shipyards they would only need for a couple of years. If China needs power, a coal plant for 10 years is reasonable to support.
      • China, in 2023, was responsible for building 95% of the coal generation plants globally. These have a design life of 40-80 years

        https://www.carbonbrief.org/ch... [carbonbrief.org]

        So, cutting back?

    • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @11:00AM (#65105883)

      Don't give us hints, give us actual figures. To be fair to you these figures aren't out yet, but based on estimates from a minor increase in fossil fuels consumption in Q1, and completely flat numbers for Q2 and Q3, even if they went balls to the wall commissioning new coal plants in Q4 no, your hint is just flat out wrong and China's fossil fuels consumption did not increase even remotely as much as their green energy.

      This should also be painfully obvious by the constantly declining percentage of fossil fuels in the total energy mix that China has exhibited for quite a few years consistently now. But thanks for giving us your "China bad" spin.

      But you are right about one thing, they are the biggest polluters. But who are they? The 1.411 billion people who pollute collectively only slightly more than the 335 million people in the USA, all the while producing goods largely for them (after all Trump is constantly complaining about the trade imbalance right?)

      So are you going to be the selfrighteous arsehole who claims you have more of a right to pollute than someone on the other side of the world who has an arbitrary line drawn around them? The world doesn't care about national borders. You as an individual contributor to climate change are far wose than those you criticise.

      Be better.

      • China's fossil fuels consumption did not increase even remotely as much as their green energy

        Nonetheless, their fossil fuel consumption increased and their emissions along with it.

        This should also be painfully obvious by the constantly declining percentage of fossil fuels in the total energy mix

        From an emissions perspective that would be great if they accomplished that by reducing fossil fuel use. They didn't. They accomplished it by increasing non-fossil fuel production faster than they increased fossil fuel use. The emissions from those coal plants are not temporary and they will continue to contribute to global warming long after the coal plant is shut down.

        We are experiencing the failure or the Paris Accords

        • Nonetheless, their fossil fuel consumption increased and their emissions along with it.

          Yes fuck them for needing energy. They should stay in the dark for the sake of the climate we destroyed in advance. Not every nation needs to be a first world nation. #americanprivilege. /s

          Your path to an industrialised nation fucked up the planet more than any other in history, and here you are criticising people who will leave only a fraction of the ecological footprint behind in their path. You're despicable.

          • You're despicable.

            What is despicable is looking for someone to blame for climate change while greenwashing the contributions of anyone. China has increased its use of emission free energy as a percentage of its power production. But it's emissions are still increasing.

            According to the greenwashers, we have been "making progress" world wide for a couple decades while emissions in the atmosphere increased. While even the rate at which new emissions were being put into the atmosphere has accelerated. China is just an example o

      • Don't give us hints, give us actual figures.

        No problem see below. Overall coal usage is still growing. Renewables are still only supplementing coal, not displacing it.

        To be fair to you these figures aren't out yet, but based on estimates from a minor increase in fossil fuels consumption in Q1, and completely flat numbers for Q2 and Q3, even if they went balls to the wall commissioning new coal plants in Q4 no, your hint is just flat out wrong and China's fossil fuels consumption did not increase even remotely as much as their green energy. This should also be painfully obvious by the constantly declining percentage of fossil fuels in the total energy mix that China has exhibited for quite a few years consistently now.

        2024 Q1 Q2 numbers below, overall increasing coal usage compared to 2023 Q1 Q2. Still. But you are touching on a source of confusion. The overall energy use of coal is still increasing, but coal is a smaller percentage of the mix. That is because renewables are growing faster than coal, but coal use is still growing. It is still being burned as fast as it can be dug up and imported, mor

        • Why do people think that China can turn this around in 5 minutes? its taken 140+ years for the current grids to get to this point but expect the renewables to be here in 5 minutes. China is installing renewables at a rate that is embarrassing the west.
          China’s clean energy pushes coal to record-low 53% share of power in May 2024 [carbonbrief.org]
          China Appears On Track to See Emissions Fall This Year [yale.edu]
          • by drnb ( 2434720 )

            Why do people think that China can turn this around in 5 minutes?

            Straw man. The issues are not rapid change. The issues are counterproductive decisions. Like the continued and increasing use of coal. If you are building large numbers of new coal plants rather than new natural gas plants, you are not trying to turn around. You are intentionally picking the lowest cost energy source despite the massive pollution that will result. Again, that is no change.

            China’s clean energy pushes coal to record-low 53% share of power in May 2024

            Note "share", the share is only lower because renewable growth is faster than coal growth. Coal continues to grow, to in

      • You speak in percentages and I am speaking in absolutes. As a percentage coal and oil increased far less than renewables. But it is already such a huge part of the mix it doesn't need to be a large percentage increase to be a greater total increase than renewables. You said I should provide more than just hints then you go on to provided slanted info that suggests you are correct. Then you throw out insults as if that further proves your point. The facts are that as of last year China accounts for 32.88% g
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @11:10AM (#65105911) Homepage Journal

      Stats aren't out yet, but it looks like China's emissions will stay about the same or fall for 2024. They are right at the peak of their curve.

      China is far, far cleaner than the US, in terms of emissions per person, the only stat that allows for a reasonable comparison. They are better than Europe too.

      This is a huge success and is working. It's also proof that vast amounts of renewables don't destabilize the grid or cause blackouts, and that massive grid scale batteries don't spontaneously explode. They can develop their economy not in spite of renewables, but because of them.

      • Per capita emissions only give a reasonable number if most people pollute about the same amount.

        • It's true that some billionaires in the US drag the stats down for everyone else, but it's also true that your failure to deal with them is your responsibility.

          As is electing them, and having them make the situation worse. There will be consequences, domestically and internationally, for your choice.

          • With China, it's more about factories' choices, those 12% below the poverty line ($2K/year) don't even have the ability to emit much.
            With USA, it's more about individual choices, as even the 12% below the poverty line ($15K/year) can contribute to emissions.

            The comparison is even more extreme if you take India into account. It has a similar population as China, and a large number of its population don't have the ability to contribute to CO2, yet their manufacturing sector, resource refinement operation

            • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

              China will never reach US levels of per-capita emissions, because it is already at its peak.

              • by Wolfier ( 94144 )

                We'll see.

                The reason I include India is because (1) India has a similar population as China and (2) Both classify themselves as developing nations.
                Therefore if you look at per-capita emission, looking at India vs China is a MUCH more interesting and an apple-to-apple comparison than China vs US.

                It's also because with a similar population, you can now look at the total emission (after all, it's what affects the earth) and see ways in which China has a huge room for improvement.

                • As the whole world is pushing to getting "cleaner" every day, and China is embarrassing the west with rate they are installing renewables and adopting EVs, i can't see China or India catching up with the wasteful west on per capita emissions
        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          That doesn't even make sense. The point of using numbers to compare things is that they might not be the same.

          Although if you really insist on using "country" as the denominator, arguing that you're the second worst and not the worst seems kind of silly when you're 425 times worse than the median and over two million times worse than the best.

      • China is far, far cleaner than the US, in terms of emissions per person, the only stat that allows for a reasonable comparison.

        Poorer nations pollute less, because they are poorer, not because they are 'cleaner' than us.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          If that is the case then we are completely screwed, because they all want our level of wealth.

          Fortunately it isn't the case, you can be prosperous and emit far less than the average American. Even American is proving that as its emissions fall from the peak in the 1970s.

    • It would have increased even more if they eschewed renewables entirely though. The simple truth is that they're going to continue to increase their power consumption and generation capacity as they further industrialize their country and improve their standards of living. Not all of that will be green or clean, but they should get some credit for efforts. Expecting that they would limit themselves to expansion only to the extent that it could be done with renewables is ridiculous.
    • China continues to lead the world in wind and solar, with twice as much capacity under construction as the rest of the world combined [globalenergymonitor.org] Considering they are installing renewables at a rate that makes the west look snail slow they are being far more responsible than the west in getting clean, you have to break eggs to make an omelette. They still have a long way to go to put as much CO2 into the atmosphere as USA has done over the past 250 years
  • In the US, there are many efforts to install renewable energy. The biggest issue is transmission lines from there to places the energy is needed. No one wants one running past their house or over their property.
  • by wakeboarder ( 2695839 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @10:45AM (#65105847)

    Not for climate reasons, but because if they want to go to war with Taiwan, they need to be energy independent. They especially need to get away from oil as much as possible because most of it gets shipped in from the middle east and that oil can be blocked by naval blockades.

    • Wanting to take islands that do not belong to them.
      If Trump does take Greenland by military force, from Denmark a NATO member, would not the USA have to attack itself if Denmark invokes article 5?
      • by gx5000 ( 863863 )
        The Canada thing will never happen and is such an old joke.
        China has invested Billions in Greenland so I get what Trump is wanting, but they should just counter the investments.
        Denmark has stated the residents can decide for themselves (57K population).
        The Panama Canal agreement has a clause that states if others Governments meddle in its operations the US can claim it all back, and they
        should since China is almost running the whole place now covertly.
        • The Panama Canal agreement has a clause that states if others Governments meddle in its operations the US can claim it all back

          I don't think that is true. Can you point to the specific language in the agreement that allows that?

      • You just don't understand Trump do you? (I don't like him) He's half hot air and half bluster, he can only do things if laws allow it. He'd have to get Congress on his side to get Greenland.

  • They're lying (Score:4, Informative)

    by CEC-P ( 10248912 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @11:44AM (#65105997)
    They opened over 2000 coal power plants. I don't give a shit if they actually installed some solar or not (unlikely) as their emissions are literally off the charts.
  • by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 ) on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @12:49PM (#65106163)

    https://seia.org/research-reso... [seia.org]

    The U.S. didn't install anywhere near as much as China claims that China did. But it was a U.S. record nonetheless.

    Aren't manipulative headlines cool?

  • "world's top polluter", by what definition, because in raw output, yeah you're right, but in per capita output it is nowhere near the top, countries like the US, and more western countries, are in the top by that definition.
    • No-one ever shares out the emissions caused by work outsourced by the west to china.
      • That's not even taken into account with a per captia definition, with that taking into account, China would even go much further down the list. The per captia definition is purely based on the amount of emission is produced within the borders of the country split by the amount of people living in that country. And by that definition, the US is a much bigger polluter as China is.

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