It is possible for China to become carbon neutral before 2060, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency. “China has the tools and the ability to achieve a faster energy transition,” said IEA chief Fatih Birol.
This is a coal-fired power plant in Shanghai. Coal has driven much of China’s industry, but the country has promised to raise emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) looked at China’s climate policy in the report Energy sector roadmap to carbon neutrality in China.
According to the International Energy Agency, China has the ability to secure sufficient energy at a reasonable price. The state has been an important contributor to the development of solar energy, wind energy and electric vehicles.
The really good news is that our roadmap shows that China has the tools and capacity to achieve a faster energy transition that will provide greater social and economic benefits to the Chinese people, and also increase the world’s chances of limiting global warming to 1.5. degrees, says IEA President Dr. Fatih Birol.
This accelerated change will cause China’s CO2 emissions to drop sharply after 2025, and allow China to achieve climate neutrality well before 2060. This will be beneficial to both China and the world, Birol says.
She made promises of the climate
China has promised that emissions will peak in 2030, and will be carbon neutral by 2060. This has helped create hope that the world can meet the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial. levels. the level.
“China’s move to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality will lead to an even greater boom in a broad field of low-carbon technologies and a significant decline in fossil energy use in the coming decades,” Birol said.
China has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and become a major supplier of industrial goods to the world, but at the same time it has the largest carbon dioxide emissions in the world. China makes more than half of the world’s steel and cement production, but these two sectors alone produce more than the entire European Union, notes the International Energy Agency.
Green Stakes, but Fossil Heavy
The International Energy Agency notes that China is far ahead of both green technology and a fossil-heavy country: Coal power still accounts for about 60 percent of the country’s electricity production, and new coal-fired power plants are being built. At the same time, China is also expanding more solar capacity every year than any other country.
China is the world’s second largest consumer of oil, but it also has 60 percent of global production capacity for car batteries.
The International Energy Agency notes that China must deal with emissions from power plants, steel production, cement production and other industries, or else China’s carbon dioxide emissions will capture a third of the world’s remaining carbon budget within a 1.5-degree target.
In this roadmap, the International Energy Agency assumes that China’s renewable energy production will sevenfold between 2020 and 2060, thus representing nearly 80 percent of the energy mix. Then emissions in the industry are reduced by 95 percent, with the help of hydrogen and carbon dioxide purification. These technologies will also be able to contribute many new jobs, the International Energy Agency estimates.
This roadmap shows what’s possible: China has a clear path toward building a more sustainable, safer, and inclusive energy future, Birol says.
He also welcomes China’s announcement last week to halt construction of coal-fired power plants in other countries, which the Zero Environmental Foundation called the best climate news in many years.
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