中文
China's coal consumption has seen its first increase in proportion to total energy consumption in 11 years, posing greater challenges to coal control.
The country's total energy consumption was 5.41 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent in 2022, an increase of 2.9% year on year, with coal accounting for 56.2% of total energy consumption, up from 55.9% in 2021, according to a Statistical Communique on the 2022 National Economic and Social Development released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on February 28.
This is the first time since 2012 that the proportion has shown an increase. In the past decade, the proportion of non-fossil energy in total energy consumption has continued to increase, while that of coal has decreased significantly.
The proportion of coal consumption was 70.2% in 2011, and from 2012 to 2021, this proportion continued to decline to 56% in 2021, the NBS data showed.
There are two main reasons for the increase: firstly, the moderate relaxation of the "dual control" policy on energy consumption since the end of 2021, in which coal as a raw material is no longer included in energy consumption; secondly, the frequent extreme weather in 2022 has highlighted the role of thermal power in stabilizing power supply.
According to a research report by CICC, after the moderate relaxation, the adjustment towards "dual control" of carbon emissions and intensity may lead to growth in consumption of coal and oil as raw materials, with coal consumption expected to increase by 60 million tonnes by 2030.
In addition, data from the China Electricity Council showed that the total coal-fired power generation in 2022 increased by 0.7% year on year. In the third quarter of 2022, when unprecedented heat and drought sent hydropower generation at a historically low level in the Yangtze River, the total coal-fired power generation increased 9.2%, which effectively made up for the decline in hydropower output and fully played the role of ensuring power supply.
In 2022, the thermal power generation of 15 provinces and regions in China has increased, with Sichuan province – the largest hydropower base in the country – having the largest growth of 18.5%, the NBS data showed. Chongqing's increase also exceeded 10%, while other water-rich provinces of Hubei and Yunnan also saw positive growth.
Currently, in the context of high global inflation and frequent extreme weather caused by climate change, controlling coal consumption has been more difficult. The use of natural gas struggles to expand in China due to factors such as price and resource reserves, which arrests its role to replace coal burn.
At the same time, while the vigorous development of renewable energy has a positive contribution to phasing out coal, it cannot provide steady energy supply like coal and natural gas, which affects the country's energy security, especially during peak consumption periods.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Tammy Yang)
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