China's CO2 flattens out
Chinese carbon dioxide emissions seem to have levelled off.
Carbon Brief reports that, in China, growing clean electricity supply covered all the growth in electricity demand. At the same time, lower real estate demand caused CO2 emissions from construction to drop.
Here's a rough picture, via data from Carbon Brief and Climate Action Tracker:2
The Chinese energy market is complex, with constant interplay between energy demand and policies for renewables, nuclear, and coal. In particular, long-term contracts for coal power and an intense push for renewables are competing to meet China's slowly-growing energy demand.
About Hope
If you look at the top of this web page, you'll notice "HOPE", a menu item that takes you to a series of short articles about victories in the climate fight. This is one of those articles.
People don't have a lot of time. They are inundated with negative news about the environment. While these negative news stories can communicate the seriousness of the situation, they can also convince people to believe that things are hopeless ... and they are not. So each little, digestible bit provides a peek into one tiny little thing that has gone right.
Don't think for a minute, though, that any of these issues are simple. Usually, a whole world of physics, chemistry, policy, and actions undergird each of these stories. We encourage you to look more deeply, to investigate the references at the end of each article, to take advantage of each little positive window into a bigger, more complex situation.
See below for some reading suggestions.
Reading
- Myllyvirta, Lauri. “Analysis: Record Surge of Clean Energy in 2024 Halts China’s CO2 Rise.” Carbon Brief, January 27, 2025. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-surge-of-clean-energy-in-2024-halts-chinas-co2-rise/.
- “China.” Accessed February 7, 2025. https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/china/.
- Myllyvirta, Lauri. “Analysis: China’s Emissions Set to Fall in 2024 after Record Growth in Clean Energy.” Carbon Brief, November 13, 2023. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chinas-emissions-set-to-fall-in-2024-after-record-growth-in-clean-energy/.