Advertisement
Editorial | Power outages are a wake-up call as China tries to go green
- The goals are clear – cut the levels of carbon dioxide and other polluting gases – but implementation is haphazard as seen in widening blackouts
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
3
China, as the world’s biggest producer of carbon dioxide and other polluting gases, has a critical role in the fight against climate change. The ambitious goals President Xi Jinping has set to cut emissions are as much an acknowledgement of that reality as a desire to take a leadership role in helping keep global warming in check.
But attaining such targets requires untested strategies and innovative thinking and there is bound to be a steep learning curve. A power shortage impacting more than half of the nation is in part a result of that process.
At least 20 of the mainland’s 31 provincial-level jurisdictions are rationing electricity, leading to power shortfalls that are affecting industrial output, homes and even traffic lights. The cuts are the result of a combination of factors, but high among them are enforcement of the central government’s strict carbon emissions targets and significant price rises in coal, the main fuel for power plants.
Advertisement
Hot weather and lower than usual hydroelectricity generation have also strained the power grid. It has not helped that the global economic rebound after Covid-19 lockdowns has boosted demand for products from Chinese factories.
About 57 per cent of China’s power needs come from coal, which Xi wants to wean the nation off to meet climate change goals. He pledged at the United Nations a year ago that the country would reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
Advertisement
Those aims require firm adherence to reduction targets, but the main economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, last month criticised nine provinces, among them Hong Kong’s neighbour, Guangdong, for increasing rather than reducing energy use, and a further 10 failed to meet targets.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x