US highlights China coal consumption

Capacity additions continue despite falling demand and accelerating renewables rollout

US climate envoy John Kerry’s reprimand of China earlier this month renewed focus on the nation’s continued investment in coal-fired power. China remains the top consumer of coal, accounting for 82.3EJ of a global total of 141.2EJ, according to BP data. But the country’s energy mix is changing as the government starts to retire some coal-fired generation in addition to building new capacity. “We used to have a saying that China is building a new coal plant every week and, unfortunately, that is still true. But perhaps the greater truth is that China is building one new idle coal plant per week,” says Tim Buckley of research body the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, noti