China Increases Coal Production Sharply – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries

The Chinese authorities now state that the daily production of coal has risen to 11.5 million tons per day.

This represents an increase of 1.1 million tons per day since the end of September, according to AFP.

In one day at the end of October, China produced up to 11.72 million tons. This is the highest one-day number in several years.

He had an energy crisis

The reason for the increase in production is that China went through an energy crisis earlier this fall.

The lack of electricity led to the introduction of electricity rationing in several places in the country.

Factories were forced to close and millions of private homes were cut off from power.

There is an energy crisis in China similar to the one we are experiencing in Europe. There are acute shortages of gas and electricity at the same time that coal reserves are running out, senior researcher Knut H. Alfsen at Cicero tells NRK.

The power shortage is due to several factors, among them the fact that factories in China are in full swing after the epidemic.

Authorities also closed several coal mines earlier this year because working in them was life-threatening.

It is not clear if these mines have now reopened and increased production.

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Electricity prices have fallen

On Friday October 1, one ton of coal cost $228, or just under 2,000 NOK. That was more than five times what it was in August of last year.

Now the price has fallen sharply and on Tuesday it was just over $143 per ton.

The vast majority of the increased production of coal – about 75 percent – goes to coal-fired power plants.

China gets about 57 percent of its electricity from coal – the form of fossil fuel that emits the most carbon dioxide.

emit most CO₂

News of increased Chinese production coincides with the start of the Glasgow Climate Summit.

China is the country that emits the most carbon dioxide. The country accounts for about 28 percent of the world’s emissions.

President Xi Jinping is not in Glasgow, which has sparked a backlash.

The disappointment is that Russia and China are not showing any commitments to deal with climate change. US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that this is one reason many are disappointed.

China said it should Reduce climate intensity by 65 percent by 2030.

men, NRK could also appear this weekendIn practice, this means that the country will increase its carbon dioxide emissions by 0.1 percent per year until 2030.

Winter is approaching

China has plans to build more coal-fired power plants in the coming years, but said earlier this year that it would stop funding coal-fired power plants in other countries.

On the other hand, China has not entered into an agreement to reduce its coal production.

Cicero University researcher Alfsine says that China places a lot of prestige in maintaining the agreements it has made.

-It sometimes led to completely ridiculous situations where, for example, they turned off power to hospitals to achieve emissions targets, he says.

So he believes that one should look at the alternatives available to him in the present situation.

– If it comes to closing hospitals, one must understand that they use some coal, says Alfsen.