China emissions fall while chemicals emerge as new hotspot

[BEIJING] A surge of renewable power led to declining emissions in China over the first half of the year, even as a growing chemicals sector becomes a major new source of heat-trapping gases, according to new research.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the world’s largest polluter fell 1 per cent on an annual basis from January to June, according to a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea). The power sector led the decline, with steel and cement also contributing to the drop.

Record additions of new wind turbines and solar panels meant generation from those two sources alone outpaced the growth in electricity demand, allowing thermal power plants to burn less coal and reduce emissions for the sector by about 3 per cent, Crea lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta said in the report.

The first five months of this year saw a surge in renewable capacity, before a Jun 1 rule change expected to lower profits at wind and solar farms. Even with installations slowing after that went into effect, the resulting boost in clean energy should be enough to drive down power sector emissions into next year, Myllyvirta said.

A prolonged slump in the property sector helped reduce output and emissions from the cement and steel sectors. The drop in steel emissions could have been larger, but mills tend to shut down costlier-but-more-efficient electric arc furnaces before cheaper coal-based production, Myllyvirta said.

The overall decline was partly offset by a surge in emissions from the chemicals sector, particularly plants that convert coal into synthetic liquid and gas fuels, as well as building blocks for plastics. Coal use in the sector as a fuel and feedstock rose 20 per cent in the first six months of the year, on top of a 10 per cent increase last year.

Coal-based chemical processes are more polluting than ones using traditional petroleum-based feedstocks. The sector emitted 690 million tonnes of CO2 last year, about 410 million to 440 million tonnes more than would have been released at traditional chemical plants, according to the report. BLOOMBERG