প্রকাশ: 26/04/2022
The number of
coal-fired power plants in the pipeline worldwide declined in 2021, according
to research released Tuesday, but the fossil fuel most responsible for global
warming still generated record CO2 emissions, threatening Paris climate goals.
Since the 195-nation treaty was inked in 2015, coal power
capacity under construction or slated for development has dropped by
three-quarters, including a 13-percent year-on-year decrease in 2021 to 457
gigawatts (GW).
Globally, there are more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants
operating in 79 countries, with a total capacity of 2,100 GW.
A record-low 34 countries have new coal plants under
consideration, down from 41 in January 2021, according to the annual Global
Energy Monitor report, Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline.
China, Japan and South Korea -- all historical backers of
coal development outside their borders -- have pledged to stop funding new coal
plants in other countries, though there remain concerns about possible
loopholes in China's commitment.
And yet the worldwide operational fleet of coal-fired power
grew in 2021 by 18 GW, and as of December an additional 176 GW of coal capacity
was under construction -- about the same as the year before.
Most of that growth is in China, which accounts for just
over half of new coal-fired power in the pipeline. South and Southeast Asia are
responsible for another 37 percent.
Three-quarters of the new coal power plants that broke
ground last year were in China, where newly commissioned capacity offset coal
plant retirements in all other nations combined.
Coal-free
"The coal plant pipeline is shrinking, but there is
simply no carbon budget left to be building new coal plants," said Flora
Champenois of Global Energy Monitor. "We need to stop, now."
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the
International Energy Agency have warned that having a fighting chance of
capping global warming at liveable levels means no new coal plants and a rapid
phase-out of existing ones.
Rich countries must do so by 2030 and most of the rest of
the world by 2040, they said.
Many emerging economies -- India, Vietnam, Bangladesh --
have cut back on plans for new coal-fired capacity.
"In China, plans for new coal-fired power plants have
continued to be announced," said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the
Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and a co-author of the report.
By far the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases,
China has vowed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by
2060.
In the United States, efforts to curtail coal use have
slowed, the report showed.
The amount of US coal capacity retired in 2021 declined for
the second year in a row, from 16.1 GW in 2019, to 11.6 GW in 2020, to an
estimated 6.4 to 9.0 GW last year.
To meet its own climate goals, the United States would need
to retire 25 GW annually between now and 2030.
The European Union retired a record 12.9 GW in 2021, including 5.8 GW in Germany, 1.7 GW in Spain and 1.9 GW in Portugal, which became coal-free in November 2021 -- nine years before its target phase-out date.
- BSS/AFP
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