Last year, China generated 834 terawatt-hours of solar power.

Which is more than the G7 countries generated, and more than the US and EU combined. In fact the only country group that generates more solar power than China is the OECD, all 38 countries of it.

Data: @ember-energy.org

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/nathanielbullard.com/post/3lsbbsg6ohk2j

  • ikt@aussie.zoneOPEnglish
    387·
    8 days ago

    China also continues to increase coal generation by more than renewables.

    I don’t believe this:

    https://ember-energy.org/countries-and-regions/china/

    In 2024, China approved 66.7GW of new coal-fired capacity, started construction on 94.5GW of coal power projects

    Even if you add these 2 together and pretend they were finished the same year it’s not even close to:

    China’s renewable energy sector made remarkable progress in 2024, adding 356 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity

    https://theasialive.com/chinas-energy-production-coal-and-renewables-locked-in-competition-amid-clean-energy-boom/2025/02/14/

    They have missed every single renewable target and goal they’re set.

    I don’t believe this is true either unless you are referring to some other targets?

    In 2020, China set a goal to install at least 1,200 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power by 2030. By the end of 2024, China had already surpassed this target, reaching this milestone 6 years ahead of schedule. This was made possible by aggressive investments, government policies, and a surge in solar and wind installations.

    China’s solar capacity grew by an incredible 45.2% in 2024, adding 277 GW. Wind capacity also saw a strong increase of 18%, with an additional 80 GW installed. Overall, total power generation capacity rose by 14.6% in 2024, driven mainly by renewables.

    https://carboncredits.com/chinas-renewable-energy-boom-a-record-breaking-shift-or-still-chained-to-coal/

    China is only %27 renewables while the EU is 47%.

    Don’t worry, just like everything else I’m sure that will flip in the future

    Europe has plenty of money apparently to suddenly:

    NATO leaders on Wednesday confirmed their commitment to more than double defence spending by 2035 banding words like “crucial”, “momentous” and “quantum leap”

    https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/25/defence-spend-to-5-of-gdp-ukraine-russia-the-key-takeaways-from-the-nato-summit

    Just why does it take an emergency to make some proper progress:

    Global energy storage owner-operator BW ESS and Spanish energy storage developer Ibersun say a new joint venture is intended to build eight four-hour battery projects across the country, with a combined capacity of 2.2 GW, 8.8 GWh.

    https://reneweconomy.com.au/no-time-to-waste-huge-big-battery-plans-unveiled-for-spain-as-accusations-traded-over-blackout/

    Where will the batteries be made I wonder?

    On top of this energy prices in the EU are ridiculous and for some reason they still can’t get off the gas, which leads to an unreal point of France giving more money to Russia for gas than in aid to Ukraine, so they have high energy prices and they’re funding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and their companies and manufacturing are leaving them… to go to China…

    https://aussie.zone/comment/17361559

    But I appreciate your scepticism (I gave your post an upvote because China does sometimes get a little bit too much credit), they are the worlds top producer of CO2 by FAR but I do want to address

    Greenwashing

    This is something I’ve wanted for a while:

    It requires EU importers to pay a levy corresponding to the embedded carbon emissions in 303 emission-intensive products

    https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/what-to-expect-from-the-eu-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism_719d2ff9-en.html

    I’ve long disliked that places like the EU and the rest of the west can export their dirty manufacturing over to China where companies take advantage of lax or no environmental regulations, it’s a false economy and makes the west look a whole lot greener and cleaner than it would if we were manufacturing what we used back at home

    ‘China has Apple by the balls’: How the rising superpower captured the tech giant

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/china-has-apple-by-the-balls-how-the-rising-superpower-captured-the-tech-giant-20250609-p5m5z1.html

    edit: boy I sure do love to procrastinate and talk about energy and co2 instead of studying :|

    • Fizz@lemmy.nzEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      edit: boy I sure do love to procrastinate and talk about energy and co2 instead of studying :|

      I feel the same way, but I had to actually focus on real life over the weekend instead of combing through the energy reports. I will start by saying that its very likely that 2024 stats are significantly more in favor of strong renewable growth but I also couldnt find a csv of data on ember-energy so i couldnt look at the actual numbers. The major energy reports I normally go by dont seem to have included 2024 data yet. Its likely that even in 2024 non renewables still increased more than renewables even though china claims that renewables were 80% of the growth I will explain below why this has previously been the case.

      China also continues to increase coal generation by more than renewables.

      China loves this stat and its a good stat but its a bit misleading, these show renewable energy as a % of total power which is relative instead of absolute. Why this is important is because it allows china to brag about increasing renewables while still massively increasing non renewables.

      Year 2022: Renewable = 8114 TWh | Non-renewable = 36401 TWh | % renewables = 18.2% From Energy Institute’s world review

      Year 2023: Renewable = 8719 TWh | Non-renewable = 38708 TWh | % renewables = 18.3%

      Renewable energy increase was 605 TWh and Non-renewable was 2307 TWh

      There is another stat that these reports normally parade around. Its % increase of a specific energy type. (these stats are made up cause i could be fucked finding an example article of a claim) They will say something like solar went from 600gw to 1000 thats a 66% increase this year and coal only increased 40% except coal is 3600gw to 6400.

      Maybe I’m wrong and if so i’d love for someone smarter than me to correct me.

      They have missed every single renewable target and goal they’re set.

      China does this thing where they go to climate meetings and agree on world goals like 13% energy intensity reduction and carbon intensity reduction. They then go back home and broadcast random goals like adding x amount of solar or carbon peak by x year. These are no climate targets, these are personal targets from the CCP that even if achieved (the carbon peak 1000% wont be) are no where close to what is required to meet their climate goals.

      https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/international-issues/china-is-missing-key-climate-targets/

      Europe has plenty of money apparently to suddenly double defense spending OVER 10 YEARS

      I’m not sure how european defense spending is relevant considering china’s defense spending has also more than doubled in the last few years and is nearing the US

      Where will the batteries be made I wonder?

      Prehaps they would be made in a country with environmental and labour laws if governments legislated properly to prevent companies outsourcing manufacturing. However this doesnt absolve china. China isnt being forced at Gunpoint to produce these goods with low labour regulation and low environmental regulation.

      energy prices in the EU are ridiculous

      Can someone actually point out to me where this comes from? Even when I look up the peak spike of germany Energy prices it doesnt seem that bad. At the end of the day energy is a small % of EU household spending and ill think that until i see otherwise.

      It requires EU importers to pay a levy corresponding to the embedded carbon emissions in 303 emission-intensive products

      This would be great, it would have been greater 10 years ago. But the best time to act was yesterday and the 2nd best time is today so i’d be happy to see something like this implemented although I dont know how effective it would be since manufacturing competitiveness is no where close anymore.

      • ikt@aussie.zoneOPEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        They will say something like solar went from 600gw to 1000 thats a 66% increase this year and coal only increased 40% except coal is 3600gw to 6400.

        Hrmmmm, maybe these numbers are outdated? Based on this coal and gas are down:

        In Q1 2025, solar generation rose 48% compared to the same period in 2024. Solar power reached 254 TWh, making up 10% of total electricity. This was the largest increase among all clean energy sources.

        Coal-fired electricity dropped by 4%, falling to 1,421 TWh.

        Gas-fired power also went down by 4%, reaching 67 TWh

        https://carboncredits.com/china-sets-clean-energy-record-in-early-2025-with-951-tw/

        are no where close to what is required to meet their climate goals

        Which ones in particular are you talking about?

        Trump signs executive order directing US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement — again

        https://apnews.com/article/trump-paris-agreement-climate-change-788907bb89fe307a964be757313cdfb0

        China vowed on Tuesday to continue participating in two cornerstone multinational arrangements – the World Health Organization and Paris climate accord – after newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump ordered withdrawals from them.

        https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250121-china-says-committed-to-who-paris-climate-deal-after-us-pulls-out

        What’s that saying? You hate it when the person you hate is doing good? I can’t remember what it is

        I can’t fault them for what they’re doing at the moment, even if they are run by an evil dictatorship and do pollute the most

        I’m not sure how european defense spending is relevant

        It suggests there is money available in the bank to fund solar/wind/battery, but instead they are preparing for? something? what? who knows. France can make a fighter jet at home but not solar panels apparently.

        Prehaps they would be made in a country with environmental and labour laws if governments legislated properly to prevent companies outsourcing manufacturing. However this doesnt absolve china. China isnt being forced at Gunpoint to produce these goods with low labour regulation and low environmental regulation.

        You’re right, it doesn’t absolve china, and I avoid purchasing things from them wherever possible, my solar panels and EV were made in South Korea, my home battery was made in Germany, there are only a few things in my house made in China, most of them I got second hand but unfortunately there is no escaping the giant of manufacturing.

        With that said it’s one thing for me to sit here and tut tut at China, but I realise I am not most people, the most clearest example is the extreme anti-ai, anti-billionaire bias on this platform, in real life most people don’t give a fuck, they love Amazon/Microsoft/Google/Apple etc, they can’t go a day without them.

        So I consider myself a realist, if you want people to buy your stuff then you will need to make the conditions possible for them to WANT to buy your stuff, not out of some moral lecture and Europe isn’t doing that, if we look at energy prices:

        Can someone actually point out to me where this comes from? … At the end of the day energy is a small % of EU household spending

        I was looking at corporate/business energy use:

        Major European companies are already moving to cut costs and retain their competitive edge.

        For example, Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, said on Monday it would slash 11,000 jobs in its steel division by 2030, in a major corporate reshuffle.

        https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/High-Energy-Costs-Continue-to-Plague-European-Industry.html

        Prices have since fallen but are still high compared to other countries.

        A poll by Germany’s DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce of around 3,300 companies showed that 37% were considering cutting production or moving abroad, up from 31% last year and 16% in 2022.

        For energy-intensive industrial firms some 45% of companies were mulling slashing output or relocation, the survey showed.

        “The trust of the German economy in energy policy is severely damaged,” Achim Dercks, DIHK deputy chief executive said, adding that the government had not succeeded in providing companies with a perspective for reliable and affordable energy supply.

        https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/more-german-companies-mull-relocation-due-high-energy-prices-survey-2024-08-01/

        I’ve seen nothing to suggest energy prices in the EU are SO cheap that it’s worth moving manufacturing TO Europe, and this is what annoys me the most.

        I’ve pointed this out before but they have an excellent report on the issues:

        https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/97e481fd-2dc3-412d-be4c-f152a8232961_en?filename=The+future+of+European+competitiveness+_+A+competitiveness+strategy+for+Europe.pdf

        Then they put out this Competitive Compass:

        https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/competitiveness-compass_en

        But tbh every week in the EU it seems like they are chasing after some other goal.

        This would be great, it would have been greater 10 years ago.

        Agreed

    • humanspiral@lemmy.caEnglish
      53·
      8 days ago

      China approved 66.7GW of new coal-fired capacity, started construction on 94.5GW of coal power projects

      New power plants don’t mean using those power plants. Resilience/backup power. Use of coal for electricity has declined despite new coal plants.