China’s rising coal power output to push global electricity generated from fossil fuel to record high this year, IEA says

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Global power generation from coal is also expected to jump by 9 per cent this year to an all-time high of 10,350 terawatt-hours, according to the IEA

This year’s record level of coal power generation shows how far off track the world is in its efforts to put emissions into decline towards net zero, IEA’s Fatih Birol says

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A barge unloads coal at a power station in Yangzhou, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: AFP

Martin Choi

Published: 4:44pm, 17 Dec 2021

China’s coal power output – around half the global total – is expected to grow by 9 per cent this year, undermining efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Global power generation from coal is also expected to jump by 9 per cent this year to an all-time high of 10,350 terawatt-hours, after falling in 2019 and 2020, potentially putting demand for the fossil fuel on course to reach a record high next year, according to the IEA’s Coal 2021 report released on Friday.

“Coal is the single largest source of global carbon emissions, and this year’s historically high level of coal power generation is a worrying sign of how far off track the world is in its efforts to put emissions into decline towards net zero,” said Fatih Birol, executive director at IEA.

“Without strong and immediate actions by governments to tackle coal emissions – in a way that is fair, affordable and secure for those affected – we will have little chance, if any at all, of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”

03:07

Climate deal to ‘phase down’ coal reached at COP26 as nations seek to avert climate disaster

At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last month, global leaders urged greater efforts to reduce the use of coal power and phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Over 190 countries agreed to reducing emissions to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and ideally 1.5 degrees by 2100 from pre-industrial levels. However, the average global temperature last year was already 1.2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

The rebound in global coal power generation was driven by the rapid economic recovery this year, which pushed up electricity demand much faster than low-carbon supplies could keep up. China’s power generation, including district heating, accounts for one-third of global coal consumption, while the country’s coal use is more than half of the world total, according to the IEA.