China has said it wants to cut its reliance on coal.
It wants to become a global leader in green energy
But its energy is looking blacker than ever right now
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
Good news!
China is leading the world in transitioning to clean, green energy.
China has pledged to cap its carbon emissions by 2030
and be Carbon neutral by 2060!
And as we all know, China is great at following through on its plans and keeping its word.
That’s why there’s currently zero Covid right now.
They did it!
China says it’s become a leader in developing clean technology,
like electric cars
windpower, And solar.
Not to mention balloons.
Even their spying is green!
China is even exporting its “greenness” by bankrolling green energy projects overseas.
And on top of that, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said two years ago that China was planning
to phase out coal over the next decade, including coal-fired power projects abroad.
Whew!
I don’t know about you but I was under the impression China wasn’t getting on the ol’
climate change bandwagon.
And it’s a bandwagon, because that’s one of the cleanest ways to travel.
You can understand my confusion, because China emits more greenhouse gasses than all other
developed nations combined.
The World Bank says that “Without China successfully transitioning to a low-carbon
economy, achieving global climate goals will be impossible.”
I’m not worried.
After all, China is more reliable than a McDonald’s soft serve machine.
When have either of those ever let someone down?
Fortunately, Chinese leader Xi Jinping recognizes the problem and has taken concrete action
to save the environment.
“Biodiversity affects the wellbeing of humanity.
A sound ecosystem is essential for the prosperity of civilization.”
“China has pursued development under the vision of building an ecological civilization.
China has reported ecological progress in every dimension and face of its economic and
social development.”
Ecological progress in every dimension?
Wow!
Xi is taking this so seriously he’s even bringing green energy
to the Multiverse!
So we’re good right?
China met its 2020 carbon target three years ahead of schedule
And I’m sure it’ll meet its 2030 goal as well, no problemo.
I mean, under Xi’s watch, the skies in Beijing went from looking like this,
To looking like this…on some days.
And like this on other days.
If you think that guy’s mask is just for Covid, think again.
China is the reason we have the term “airpocalypse”.
According to the World Health Organization, “Air pollution is responsible for about
2 million deaths in China per year.”
Yeah 2 million *per year*.
So when Chinese state media blamed the US for almost 1 million Covid deaths, it’s
kinda like the guy who beats his wife saying he’s better than his neighbor who beats
his dog.
I’m pretty sure there’s no moral high ground to stand on there.
The main reason that China’s air quality is so poor is because China still consumes
a ton of coal.
It’s still China’s main fuel source, despite supposed efforts to move away from it.
China made efforts like banning people’s coal-burning stoves right before winter
Which it then did a u-turn on because there wasn’t enough natural gas to meet demand
so people were freezing.
Whoops!
Like I said, Xi Jinping set a goal of phasing out coal use over the next decade.
But China’s actually heading in the opposite direction now.
And they’re traveling in that opposite direction on a coal-powered train, that smashed into
the bandwagon that was parked on the tracks.
I’ll tell you more after the break.
Welcome back.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has set a public goal of phasing out coal consumption over
the next decade.
Xi Jinping set that goal in 2021.
Today, though, he’s doing the exact opposite.
According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, last year Chinese authorities
gave permits for the equivalent of two new coal power plants per week.
Now it’s not saying that China is actually building two plants a week, it’s just saying
that the government has given permits for 106 gigawatts of coal power.
And that’s roughly the same as two coal power plants being built per week in terms
of their output.
Is Xi trying to get China to quit coal the same way parents make their kids quit cigarettes
by making them smoke the whole pack?
That might only be the start of it though.
“An executive from China’s top energy engineering firm said he expects the nation
to approve 270 gigawatts worth of new plants through 2025, more than the entire fleet in
the US.”
So for comparison, the United States’ entire coal-fired power capacity is 231 gigawatts.
China is already using over 1,000 gigawatts.
I take it back.
Xi isn’t making them smoke the whole pack.
He’s making them smoke the entire cigarette factory!
They’ll definitely be sick of coal by the end of this.
And by sick, I mean at least two million deaths a year.
Now a logical question to ask is if China’s just building more efficient plants while
retiring older ones.
According to the study, that’s not the case.
About 4 gigawatts of coal power was retired in 2022, compared to the 106 gigawatts that
was newly permitted.
“Policies on closing down small and inefficient plants have been revised to keep these plants
online instead as back-up or in normal operation after retrofits.”
So hold on to your masks LA, because Made in China smog is about to get a lot worse.
Yes, a bunch of the smog in Los Angeles is actually from China.
Look how shocking this is to LA residents.
She actually is surprised.
She just doesn’t look it because she’s full of Botox.
So what’s the reason China went into reverse on its coal policy?
Well if you look at what the government says about its plan to dial down coal, you’ll
see that there’s a big caveat.
In 2021, China’s State Council issued this policy recommendation:
“Based on the country's energy resource endowment, which is rich in coal and poor
in oil and gas, insist on building up before breaking down . . . With the bottom line of
ensuring national energy security and economic development, we will strive for time to realize
the gradual replacement of new energy and promote low energy consumption.”
The key phrase here is “ensuring national energy security and economic development.”
The CCP isn’t going to go green if it hurts either of those things.
Plus “Building up before breaking down” means that China’s not going to switch to
renewables till it’s got enough to meet peak demand.
It’s kind of like how bodybuilders bulk up before cutting down for a competition.
Only China’s been bulking up for decades, and doesn’t seem to be prepping for a competition
anytime soon.
Last year, China saw peak demand and wasn’t able to meet it.
The spike in energy usage was caused by a record heat wave, which increased the use
of air conditioners, thus sending energy demand soaring.
Considering how much China loves the stuff, I’m actually surprised
Their AC units aren’t also coal-powered.
On top of that there was a drought in part of the country, which dried up rivers and
lowered reservoirs.
That affected the country’s output of hydropower, which in turn made the high energy demand
even harder to meet.
The result was widespread energy cuts.
“[China] dimmed skyscrapers, shut factories, darkened subways, and plunged homes and offices
into rolling blackouts, forcing air conditioning to be unplugged.”
But luckily, people were able to go outside and feel the nice breeze.
It’s not like they were forced to stay in their sweltering homes, right?
Oh… right.
So yeah, when it comes to the environment or energy security, China will choose energy
security every day.
They’ll also choose economic development over the environment.
The Chinese Communist Party knows that providing basic things like electricity is essential
to maintaining its legitimacy—or least avoiding a mutiny.
I doubt after its horrific zero covid policy anyone thinks it’s has any legitimacy left.
The government’s policy of trying to keep deaths from Covid to zero not only wrecked
the economy, but it kept people locked in their homes, even when they were starving.
Children were taken away from their parents and put into government-run quarantine camps.
If you ever need a single fact to show how bad it is in China, just know that the kids
put in government-run quarantine camps were actually lucky, because there are
much worse camps they could have been put in.
People’s pets were rounded up and brutally killed while their owners were in quarantine,
supposedly to prevent the virus from spreading.
I take it back.
That’s a much worse single fact to show how bad China is.
It’s like they heard my first one and thought, “challenge accepted!”
After almost three years of that kind of abuse, Chinese citizens had had enough.
Not only did they come out to protest, but they called for Xi Jinping and the Chinese
Communist Party to step down.
The Party silently dealt with those protesters later.
Okay, I get it!
There are *tons* of singular facts to prove how awful China is.
Stop one-upping yourself!
But the CCP knows that Chinese people are at a breaking point, and that if it can’t
provide even basic essentials, it could get even uglier.
Same with the economy, which the Zero Covid policy also completely wrecked.
If people can’t find jobs or keep losing their savings, the Chinese Communist Party
will also be wrecked.
So getting back to what this means for China’s coal policy, the CCP needs a stable power
source to keep the lights on.
It says these new coal power plants are only going to be for when energy usage peaks and
the grid can’t handle it.
Buuut, coal-fired power plants can’t just be started like a car.
It takes several days for them to be ready to produce, and by that time, they might not
even be needed.
So China’s keeping the plants running slowly, at 30 to 50% capacity, which allows them to
ramp up to full capacity quickly.
Which is like keeping your car running in the garage nonstop, while you’re in it.
Brilliant plan.
No notes.
Remember, China says it’s only going to stop *increasing* carbon emissions by 2030,
but it doesn’t say what its limit is going to be.
This means it may try to ramp up its coal output as much as it can before then so that
when 2030 rolls around, it can stop increasing emissions and it’ll look like it’s meeting
its climate goals.
Never mind that its emissions could be off the charts.
China is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world.
So in addition to setting records for green energy, it’s also setting records broken
promises.
The only upside to this is if China keeps spreading smog around the globe
Then its spy balloons won’t be able to spy anymore.
Congrats, China.
You played yourself… and destroyed the Earth.
And remember, China Uncensored is able to keep making videos like this because of viewers
like you who support us on the crowdfunding website Patreon and the social media platform
Locals.
Which is why I answer their questions at the end of each show.
Today’s question comes from Austin Kaufhold on Patreon, who asks: Do you have a bunker
ready to go on a moment’s notice?
No Austin, I don’t.
And that’s because as I’ve said before on the show, I already live in a bunker.
It’s 28 floors below the Empire State Building.
The Chinese Communist Party will never find me there.
Thanks for your question, Austin.
And thank you to everyone else who supports China Uncensored by contributing through the
crowdfunding website Patreon, by pledging a dollar or more per episode.
Or by supporting us through Locals.
We rely on your support to keep making great episodes.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.