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China’s coal share of energy consumption falls in 2020, but overall coal use up
- Coal share of energy consumption fell to 56.8 per cent, but overall coal usage rose by 0.6 per cent as dozens of new coal power plants went online
- Share of clean energy sources rose one percentage point to 24.3 per cent, but oil and natural gas usage rose more
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China cut its coal use to 56.8 per cent of energy consumption at the end of 2020, maintaining its target of below 58 per cent, but overall coal consumption continued to rise amid record industrial output and the completion of dozens of coal-fired power plants.
The rapid roll-out of renewable-energy capacity and the growing use of natural gas has helped reduce the share of coal consumption from around 68 per cent over the past decade and 57.7 per cent a year earlier, but overall coal use has not peaked.
Coal consumption in the world’s biggest coal user and greenhouse gas emitter grew 0.6 per cent last year, the fourth consecutive increase, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.
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The share of “clean” energy – including natural gas, hydropower, nuclear and wind power – rose one percentage point to 24.3 per cent of consumption, it said.
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Energy consumption increased by 2.2 per cent to 4.98 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent last year, with crude oil demand growing by 3.3 per cent and natural gas by 7.2 per cent.
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