China cutting coal use, growing it’s solar and wind energy capacity fast

Figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics reveals that China is cutting coal and growing its wind and solar energy capacity fast.

Last year China’s solar power generation capacity was up by 74% while wind power generation witnessed increase by 34 percent. Speaking to New Scientist, Tim Buckley of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said “China’s official 2015 wind installations are an all-time global record of 32.5 gigawatts,” he further added. “China itself is the only nation to have come anywhere near this, delivering 20.7 gigawatts of new wind capacity in 2014.”

The consumption of coal declined by 3.7 percent, while crude oil is up by 5.6 percent and natural gas by 3.3 percent. According to National Bureau of Statistics consumption of coal accounted for 64.0 percent of the total energy consumption, while clean energy consumption, such as hydropower, wind power, nuclear power and natural gas, accounted for 17.9 percent.

Recently China claimed that by the year-2020 it will cut power sector carbon emissions by 60 %. Pushing clean energy initiative China sends out a strong signal to the world that backs the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Last year in December leaders of 195 countries agreed to dissuade their nations off fossil fuels. However, since then the resolution of at least one large carbon emitter has quivered.