China is Building Coal-Fired Power Plants at an Alarming Rate of two new coal plants every week!

Ronald Stein, P.E. is an engineer, columnist on energy literacy at America Out Loud NEWS, and advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations.”

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George Harris has served as Executive Director of Montana Coal Council since September 2022.  He has a Master of Public Administration degree from BYU.  He has served as Executive Budget Officer in Montana’s Governor’s Budget Office. He was the State Risk Manager and served as President of the National State Risk Managers Association.

Co-authored by Ronald Stein, and George Harris

Published December 9, 2024, at America Out Loud NEWS

America continues to subsidize the development of occasionally generated electricity from weather dependent wind turbines and solar panels, to replace coal power plants, with the expectation that America, with about 4% of the world’s population, can drastically impact the world’s emissions occurring from the other 96% people on this planet.

Coal is the world’s most abundant and reliable energy source. The United States has the world’s largest coal reserves.  Of the 15 major coal producing States, Montana has the largest coal reserve with 118.4 billion tons. 

There are about 200 coal-burning power plants still operating in America, with many concentrated in Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, i.e. only 8% of the world’s coal plants.

Worldwide there are over 2,400 coal-fired power stations, i.e., the other 92% of the world’s coal plants.

Right now, China already has a total of 1,142 operating coal-fired plants  and is building six times as many coal-fired power plants as the rest of the world combined – China is building the equivalent of two new coal plants every week!

Most in the wealthier developed counties are oblivious that about 80 percent of the world’s 8 billion, many of which are in Africa, Asia and Latin America still live on less than $10 a day – and the billions who still have little to no access to electricity. For others, life is severely complicated and compromised by the hypocritical “green” agendas of wealthy country elites who have benefited so tremendously from fossil fuels since the modern industrial era began in the 1800’s.

While wealthier countries are shelling out billions of dollars in subsidies for so-called clean ELECTRICITY from wind and solar, those poorer developing countries cannot subsidize themselves out of a paper bag.

Developing countries desperately need dependable, affordable electricity and the products and fuels manufactured from fossil fuels to create jobs, lift families out of poverty, modernize homes, schools, and hospitals, provide clean water, and replace wood and animal dung for cooking and heating.

Even today, for the more than 6 billion on this planet living on less than $10 a day, millions of parents and children die from respiratory and intestinal diseases that are unheard of in wealthy countries, because they don’t have electricity nor any of the 6,000 products made from oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil that did not exist before the 1800’s.

Coal is primarily used for generation of electricity, especially in China, India, and Africa.

As the number one importer of both crude oil and coal, China is the largest consumer of energy and producer of emissions in the world. 

• China, with 1,142 coal-fired power plants in operation as of July 2023, mainland China currently has a far greater number of coal-fired plants than any other country. 
• India comes in a distant second with 282 coal-fired plants.
• The U.S.is third with 210 plants. Due to onerous regulations by the Biden Administration and the overreach of his BLM and EPA, approximately 170 of the remaining coal-fired plants in the U.S. are scheduled to be de-commissioned by 2030, and there are no plans to build any new coal-fired plants in the U.S.  Meanwhile China is adding to its inventory of coal-fired power plants at a record rate.  

During the first six months of 2023, China issued permits for the construction of approximately 50 new coal-fired power plants, an average of two per week. China currently has more than 300 coal-fired plants that are either under construction, permitted, or awaiting permitting. If all 300 plants are constructed, China’s inventory of coal-fired power plants will increase by more than 25%. Currently, China has six times more coal-fired power plants under construction than the rest of the World combined. 

Officials within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) offer a variety of reasons for the rapid reliance upon coal-fired power plants such as recent heat waves that have increased the demand for air conditioning. New coal-fired plants will simply serve as backup support for the undependable renewable sources of electricity generation from weather dependent wind and solar and during periods of intense electricity demand. 

Given that China is also currently leading the world in the construction of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, China’s increased reliance upon coal contradicts the justifications offered by the CCP. Critics point out that most of the new coal-fired power plants are being constructed in locations that fail to support the justifications offered by the CCP, such as no reported instability of the grid or unreliability of renewable energy sources. Other critics indicate that the new coal-fired plants are being constructed in locations that are already powered almost entirely by coal as opposed to supposed unreliable renewable electricity generation sources. 

Whatever stance is taken, while the wealthier developed nations are rapidly decreasing reliance upon coal-fired power plants by subsidizing wind and solar, China and other developing countries are moving even faster in the opposite direction, drastically increasing reliance upon coal that is abundant and affordable for their economies.

Hope is on the horizon.  The landmark US Supreme Court Chevron case has taken much of the teeth out of overzealous federal bureaucrats. US Senator Steve Daines of Montana has proposed legislation to keep coal mines operational.  The landslide victory of the incoming Trump administration including the coal friendly majority in the US Senate and House which are committed to energy independence, will likely reign in bureaucratic red tape, shortsighted energy hysteria from those who Senator Daines refers to as “Green Hallucinationists,” and put the American people first with clean, reliable and affordable electricity from the hard-working coal miners of the good old USofA!  There is a new sheriff in town, especially DC town and the American Coal industry is proud to help wear that badge!

Please share this information with teachers, students, and friends to encourage Energy Literacy conversations at the family dinner table. 

Click this Link to Sign up for Energy Literacy from Ronald Stein

In the article Big polluters, small island states clash on climate change, the Voice of America (VOA) claimed that climate change threatens the survival of Pacific island nations due to sea-level rise, and that they should be compensated by other countries who are said to be the major drivers of climate change, such as the United States. This claim is false, lacking any scientific support. Data refutes any claims made by island nations that they are losing land to rising seas

VOA notes:

Nearly 100 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations are set to give evidence across two weeks of legal proceedings that began on Monday and ends December 13. The judges are expected to give their legal opinion sometime next year.

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The judges’ opinion is advisory and won’t be legally binding.

The recent proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have brought to the forefront claims by small island nations that rising sea levels, attributed to climate change, threaten their very existence. These nations seek to hold major polluting countries legally accountable for the alleged damages. However, a closer examination of the scientific evidence and observable realities challenges the foundation of these claims.

Many Pacific islands are atolls—ring-shaped coral reefs encircling lagoons. Contrary to the narrative of inevitable submersion, atolls have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt to changing sea levels. Research indicates that these landforms can grow and adjust in response to environmental changes. A study published in Nature Communications found that 88.6% of Tuvalu’s islands remained stable or increased in size over recent decades, despite rising sea levels.

The New York Times (NYT) recently posted an article, titled “A Surprising Climate Find,” which explains how island nations like, Kiribati, Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are not, in fact, in danger of sinking under the seas due to climate change. This is true; a fact that Climate Realism has repeatedly discussed. Atolls in particular are known to grow with rising water levels, this has been known for years if not decades.

Climate at a Glance: Islands and Sea Level Rise, also confirms the fact that, Tuvalu in particular, often a poster child for islands supposedly threatened by sea level rise, “eight of Tuvalu’s nine large coral atolls have grown in size during recent decades, and 75 percent of Tuvalu’s 101 smaller reef islands have increased as well.” This expansion is due to natural processes where coral debris and sediment accumulate, enabling atolls to maintain their landmass. Put simply, the assertion that these islands are inevitably sinking lacks scientific support.

Another argument being made before the court is the concept of “climate refugees” from sinking islands, which is often cited in discussions about climate change impacts. However, there is a notable absence of documented cases where populations have been displaced solely due to sea-level rise. For instance, despite concerns, Tuvalu’s population has not been forced to evacuate en masse, rather it and other similarly situated island nations’ populations have grown. When migration from these islands occurs, it is driven by economic opportunities rather than environmental factors.

Contrary to the portrayal of Pacific island nations as being on the brink of disappearance, many are actively investing in infrastructure to boost tourism—a sector incompatible with the notion of imminent submersion. Fiji, for example, has experienced a surge in tourism, leading to the development of new resorts and the expansion of existing ones. The InterContinental Hotels Group is expanding its presence in Fiji, with new projects in areas like Nadi, the islands, and Suva.

Similarly, other Pacific nations such as Kiribati, are enhancing their tourism infrastructure, such as building hotels and improving airports, indicating the confidence they have in their long-term viability. This trend suggests that these countries do not perceive an existential threat from sea-level rise, as such investments would be imprudent if submersion by sea level rise were imminent.

The push to hold so-called polluters legally accountable for the alleged impacts of climate change on small island nations is legally unsupportable. Climate change isn’t harming the islands, a necessary component of any legal claim. In addition, the United States argued during the during the ICJ hearings that international human rights law does not obligate states to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions nor provides for a human right to a healthy environment. This stance underscores the challenges in attributing specific environmental changes to the actions of individual nations, given the multifaceted nature of climate dynamics.

The concerns of small island nations regarding climate change seem to be more about extracting money from wealthier nations, as the scientific evidence suggests that many pacific atolls are not only surviving but adapting and growing. The absence of climate refugees and the active expansion of tourism infrastructure further challenge the narrative of imminent existential threat. Therefore, the basis for legal action against developed countries appears tenuous, as the purported damages lack clear and direct causation linked to their actions.

In light of these facts, it appears that the lawsuits being pushed are little more than a legal shake-down by using the alarmist narratives about climate change induced sea level rise to win a case that actually has no basis in fact nor law. Even if the case should be ruled in favor of the island nations, they have no way to enforce the “advisory” ruling against other nations, rendering the outcome essentially toothless.

Anthony Watts

Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at The Heartland Institute. Watts has been in the weather business both in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and currently does daily radio forecasts. He has created weather graphics presentation systems for television, specialized weather instrumentation, as well as co-authored peer-reviewed papers on climate issues. He operates the most viewed website in the world on climate, the award-winning website wattsupwiththat.com.

Originally posted on ClimateREALISM