The coal share in China’s energy mix drops to 57% by the end of 2020, achieving its target of less than 58%. Still, total coal consumption continued to rise amid record industrial production and the completion of dozens of operating power stations.
The acceleration of renewable energy projects and the growing consumption of natural gas helped reduce coal consumption share. It was about 68% over the last ten years and dropped to 57.7% a year ago, yet the overall coal consumption volume has not decreased.
The National Bureau of Statistics stated that coal consumption, the largest greenhouse gas source, grew 0.6 percent last year and is continuing to rise for the fourth consecutive year.
The share of “clean” energy – including natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, and wind power – rose by one percentage point, reaching 42.3 percent of consumption. Energy consumption increased 2.2 percent to 4.98 billion tons of coal equivalent last year, and the demand for crude oil grew by 3.3 percent and natural gas by 3.3 percent.
China has pledged to halt the increase in carbon emissions before 2030 and targets levels to control energy consumption, especially coal burning, and improve efficiency.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, the volume of carbon dioxide emissions per economic growth unit dropped by 1 percent last year.
