anyway, lets go!

Coal reached a RECORD high share of electricity generation in Indonesia and the Philippines in 2023, surpassing Poland and China.
(pro nejakou predstavu: indonesie ma kolem 280M lidi a filipiny kolem 115M, EU ma dohoromady asi 450M lidi )

Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2024
https://www.weforum.org/publications/fostering-effective-energy-transition-2024/

In the 14th edition of the Fostering Effective Energy Transition report, the WEF noted that its benchmarks for 107 of the 120 countries surveyed indicated they had made advances in their transitions towards clean and sustainable energy systems over the last decade.

But it said that the slowdown in the pace of the global energy transition, first identified in its 2022 data, had intensified in the past year. The survey found that more than 80% of countries had moved backwards compared to the previous report in at least one of the three main energy system performance dimensions it benchmarks, namely security, equity (meaning equitable energy distribution, access and cost) and sustainability.

...

the WEF reports that the gap in overall scores has narrowed between advanced and developing economies and says that the “centre of gravity” of the transition is shifting towards developing countries. Nevertheless, developed countries and China have attracted almost 90% of the growth in clean energy investment since 2021.

Výkon jak 2,5 Temelínu - tenhle "solární park" by plně zásobil energii 10 milionů Papuánců (mají menší spotřebu něž stejný počet čechů)

Čína připojila k síti největší solární elektrárnu na světě. Park o rozloze 200 tisíc hektarů (2 000 kilometrů čtverečních) se nachází v severozápadní části země v autonomní oblasti Sin-ťiang a bude vyrábět tolik elektřiny, který spotřebuje ostrovní stát Papua Nová Guinea s deseti miliony obyvatel za rok. Celkový instalovaný výkon – maximální výkon, kterého je daná fotovoltaická elektrárna schopna technicky dosáhnout – má úctyhodných pět gigawattů.

Dva dosavadní největší fotovoltaické areály na světě se nacházejí také v Číně. Jedním z nich je solární projekt Ningxia Tenggeli společnosti Longyuan Power Group, který má instalovaný výkon tři gigawatty a nachází se v poušti Tenggeli v autonomním regionu Vnitřní Mongolsko. Druhým je srovnatelně velký solární komplex Golmud Wutumeiren v provincii Čching-chaj.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/worlds-biggest-solar-farm-comes-online-chinas-xinjiang-2024-06-03/

Čína spustila největší solární elektrárnu světa. Výkon má dvaapůlkrát větší než Temelín | Hrot
https://www.hrot24.cz/clanek/cina-spustila-nejvetsi-solarni-elektrarnu-sveta-na-papire-ma-vykon-dvaapulkrat-vetsi-nez-temelin

China's largest solar power tower project achieves milestone | World DNA | WION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDk8iuL810I

Everything You’re Told About Green Capitalism is Wrong | Brett Christophers talks to Aaron Bastani
https://youtu.be/fMzFCcv1d3Q?si=cBTbgmxjLk5xWkgq


The costs of green electricity are plummeting and renewable technology is only getting cheaper. For optimists, this means that a world of abundant, clean energy is just around the corner.

And yet the share of global energy coming from non-carbon sources is broadly the same as it was two decades ago. If falling prices were all that mattered, surely that wouldn’t be the case? For the optimists to be right, things would have to look different.

According to this week’s guest, Brett Christophers, there is a straightforward explanation for this seeming paradox - of cheaper green energy but incredibly slow adoption. For Christophers it isn’t just prices that matter, but profits too. And profitability for green energy projects remains well below those of oil and gas. The incentives are simply not there for market actors to take us rapidly beyond oil, gas and coal.

So if capitalism can address the climate crisis, what would that look like? Or does the state need to play a decisive role? How is it possible that China is both a global leader and a laggard in greenhouse gas emissions? And is Europe over?


The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet | Verso Books
https://www.versobooks.com/products/3069-the-price-is-wrong

Is China on track to reduce its carbon emissions? If so, why is it building so much coal power? In this episode, researcher Lauri Myllyvirta brings data to bear on China’s recent decarbonization efforts and helps demystify the country’s larger intentions.

What's going on with China these days? - by David Roberts
https://www.volts.wtf/p/whats-going-on-with-china-these-days

Germany is a case study — perhaps the case study — of a Western middle power which made a strategic bet on a full embrace of interdependence and globalization in the late 20th century: it outsourced its security to the U.S., its export-led growth to China, and its energy needs to Russia. It is now finding itself excruciatingly vulnerable in an early 21st century characterized by great power competition and an increasing weaponization of interdependence by allies and adversaries alike. The war in Ukraine, which touches on almost every one of Germany’s bilateral, regional, and global interests, only accentuates its exposure. That this horrific conflict is taking place in the region that was part of the “Bloodlands” (the term coined by Yale historian Timothy Snyder), where Hitler and (to a lesser degree) Stalin murdered tens of millions of people is lost on few of my fellow citizens.

For much of the three decades after German reunification in 1990, Berlin saw Moscow (as well as Beijing) as a reliable strategic partner in a two-way bargain: Germany would import cheap energy, and export good governance in much the way that Eastern Europe had been transformed through entry into NATO and the EU. Ultimately, German policymakers hoped, this would transform not only these countries’ economies but also their political systems. And they believed — in an attempt to reconfigure West Germany’s Cold War Ostpolitik for a united Germany in the middle of Europe — that NATO and the European Union could and should be encompassed in a pan-European security architecture that included Russia.

The Kremlin, for its part, saw Germany as a friend, a partner, and as a strategic bridgehead into Europe — not least because it was importing roughly a third of its oil and gas from Russia. What the Germans called their “modernization partnership” with Moscow made for excellent business for a while; but in every other way, it proved to be a failure. Economic integration turned out to be strictly downstream, while many German businesses got burned by corruption and organized crime; political reform remained elusive.

Putin’s war and European energy security: A German perspective on decoupling from Russian fossil fuels | Brookings
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/putins-war-and-european-energy-security-a-german-perspective-on-decoupling-from-russian-fossil-fuels/

Zajimavej report na geopoliticky implikace tajici Arktidy...

Climate change is already affecting geopolitics, and countries are adapting their geopolitical strategies to take account of anticipated future climate change. Russia is leading in this regard, explicitly integrating climate change forecasts into its economic and national security strategies. Vladimir Putin has signaled that he sees the Arctic as an essential resource base and military stronghold for Russia in the decades ahead. Putin also seems to believe that unexploited hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic will be crucial for Russia’s economic future post-Ukraine. Scientists and industry participants are skeptical that this plan will succeed, but the exit of Western firms has removed pressure on Russian policymakers and firms to guard against Arctic environmental risks. Russian activity is increasing the probability of Arctic environmental disasters in the years ahead, including oil spills and radiological leakage.

The United States and its Arctic allies and partners cannot ignore Russia’s actions. As the war in Ukraine still rages, a future military confrontation between Russia and NATO in the Arctic cannot be ruled out. NATO faces the challenge of how to strengthen its defense structures and increase the frequency and scope of Arctic exercises without risking misperceptions and accidents that lead to conflict with Russia. Moscow’s diplomatic isolation and economic weakness may also force it to grant China a greater role in the development of the Northern Sea Route.


The Geopolitics of Climate Change: Scenarios and Pathways for Arctic 2050 | Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/geopolitics-climate-change-scenarios-and-pathways-arctic-2050

Zajimavej kratkej paper o historii klimatickyho vyzkumu v Cine #China #Cina

Another scientist who shared this view of China’s
climate as being related to global long-term cycles and
a recent warming trend was Tu Changwang (1906–1962).
Tu, at the request of Zhu Kezhen, returned to China from
studying in the UK in the 1930s and became a leading
figure in Chinese meteorological research. In a particularly
noteworthy article in the People’s Daily in January 1961
entitled “On the issue of climate change in the twentieth
century” (关于二十世纪气候变暖的问题), Tu underscored
the fact that international meteorologists had calculated
that the annual average temperature of the earth rose
by 0.33 degrees between 1910 and 1940. He subsequently
issued an early warning to the leadership about the risk
of potential negative effects of continued climate change.7
In many respects, Tu Changwang became one of the most
influential scientists in the field through his mentoring of
a group of meteorologists and atmospheric physicists that
became a core of the climate science community in China
in the late twentieth century.8

https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/sites/default/files/2023-03/OP09_ErikBaark.pdf

POLITICO:

„EU UNLIKELY TO RESCUE DYING SOLAR INDUSTRY: European solar producers are hurtling toward extinction after the European Union hinted Tuesday that it wouldn’t bail out ailing manufacturers, POLITICO’s Victor Jack reports. That’s putting thousands of jobs at risk and deals a blow to Europe’s clean-tech ambitions. 
In a private meeting between the solar industry and the European Commission, the bloc’s competition officials said they wouldn’t change subsidy rules to support the industry without a strong push from the EU governments, a person familiar with the talks told Victor. The person was granted anonymity to speak freely about confidential talks.
EU solar manufacturers have warned for months that they face an existential crisis with respect to China’s near-total dominance over global supply lines, which has caused a supply glut of dirt-cheap solar panels inside the bloc and left them unable to compete. In the coming week, companies are set to begin laying off the roughly 4,000 skilled workers in the sector.„

EU snubs dying solar manufacturers as China poised to swallow market – POLITICO
https://www.politico.eu/article/solar-panels-manufacturing-china-europe-market/

Related

1 in 5 new car sales globally were EVs in 2023, and that's curbed oil demand – IEA
https://electrek.co/2024/03/02/1-in-5-new-car-sales-globally-in-were-evs-in-2023-oil-demand-iea/

The bad news is that energy-related emissions rose in 2023. But the good news is that continued expansion of clean energy technologies meant that global energy-related emissions rose less strongly than in 2022, even as total energy demand growth accelerated.

Emissions increased by 410 million tonnes, or 1.1%, in 2023 – compared with a rise of 490 million tonnes the year before – taking them to a record level of 37.4 billion tonnes.

An exceptional shortfall in hydropower due to extreme droughts in the US, China, and several other economies resulted in over 40% of the rise in emissions in 2023 as countries turned largely to fossil fuels to plug the gap. Had it not been for the unusually low hydropower output, global emissions from electricity generation would have declined in 2023, making the overall rise in energy-related emissions significantly smaller.

...

Advanced economies saw a record fall in their emissions in 2023 even as their GDP grew. Their emissions dropped to a 50-year low while coal demand fell back to levels not seen since the early 1900s.

Ecological civilization (shengtai wenming ) has been written into China’s constitution as the ideological framework for the country’s environmental policies, laws and education. It is also increasingly presented not only as a response to environmental degradation in China, but as a vision for our global future. In this article, scholars from the disciplines of media science, anthropology and sinology analyse media representations of eco-civilization in order to explore which values and visions this highly profiled state project actually entails. The article argues that eco-civilization is best understood as a sociotechnical imaginary in which cultural and moral virtues constitute key components that are inseparable from the more well-known technological, judicial, and political goals. The imaginary of eco-civilization seeks to construct a sense of cultural and national continuity, and to place China at the center of the world by invoking its civilization’s more than 2000 years of traditional philosophical heritage as a part of the solution for the planet’s future. It is constructed as a new kind of Communist Party led utopia in which market economy and consumption continue to grow, and where technology and science have solved the basic problems of pollution and environmental degradation.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959378018304448

China is building more coal plants but might burn less coal
China is adding more coal capacity, but its plants are running less often.

China is building more coal plants but might burn less coal
https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/china-coal-plants

Over the past decade, China has emerged as a prominent player in the global electric vehicle (EV) market. Its early recognition of the significance of electromobility for the future and government support for the sector, coupled with considerable control over the mining and processing of raw materials used in battery production, has positioned China as a key actor in the EV market.

From Zero to Hero? Chinese Investment in Electric Vehicle Supply Chains in the Visegrád Four – chinaobservers
https://chinaobservers.eu/from-zero-to-hero-chinese-investment-in-electric-vehicle-supply-chains-in-the-visegrad-four/

Analysis: China’s emissions set to fall in 2024 after record growth in clean energy - Carbon Brief
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chinas-emissions-set-to-fall-in-2024-after-record-growth-in-clean-energy/

China’s carbon emissions set for structural decline from next year | Energy industry | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/13/chinas-carbon-emissions-set-for-structural-decline-from-next-year

Emise z fosilních paliv, které lidstvo letos vypustí do ovzduší, opět dosáhnou rekordních hodnot. Největším znečišťovatelem je nadále Čína, mohlo by to být ale naposledy, kdy se o asijské velmoci takto mluví. Od příštího roku začnou její emise klesat díky masivnímu využívání obnovitelných energií.

Doba, kdy Čína platila za největšího znečišťovatele, končí. Země míří k čisté energii - Aktuálně.cz
https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/zahranici/doba-kdy-byla-cina-nejvetsi-znecistovatel-konci-zeme-vede-v/r~32dbd23c976f11eea873ac1f6b220ee8/

Rok 2023 si Číňané budou spojovat s velkými suchy a odborníci s nárůstem emisí skleníkových plynů na rekordní úroveň. Vodní elektrárny, které letos nemohly kvůli suchu v Číně vyrábět elektřinu, totiž nahradila energie vzniklá spalováním uhlí. To s sebou přineslo i více emisí skleníkových plynů přispívajících k oteplování planety.

Příští rok by měl být ale jiný. Asijský obr už delší dobu díky státním pobídkám a dotacím investuje do nízkouhlíkových zdrojů energie, především do větrných a solárních elektráren. Jen ty postavené v letošním roce dokážou vyprodukovat tolik energie, jako spotřebuje za celý rok Francie. Obnovitelné zdroje v zemi proto pomalu nahrazují elektřinu vyráběnou z fosilních paliv.

"Čína má zajímavou roli. Jedná se o světovou 'jedničku' v oblasti produkce emisí skleníkových plynů a spotřeby uhlí, ale také v oblasti zavádění a výroby nízkouhlíkových technologií," vysvětluje pro Aktuálně.cz Romana Jungwirth Březovská, analytička Klimatýmu Asociace pro mezinárodní otázky. Tempo, s jakým Čína zavádí do provozu obnovitelné zdroje energie, označuje za neuvěřitelné.

Pro ty, ktere zajimaji vysledky COPu, tak Carbon Brief porada free webinar

Hello,

Carbon Brief’s team of specialist journalists will be hosting a free webinar on Friday to discuss the key outcomes from COP28, which has just concluded in Dubai. We will also be answering your questions.

Time: Friday, 15 December, 3pm (GMT)

Moderator:

Leo Hickman, editor
Panelists:

Dr Simon Evans – senior policy editor and deputy editor
Daisy Dunne – special correspondent
Josh Gabbatiss – policy correspondent
Molly Lempriere – section editor for policy
Dr Giuliana Viglione – section editor for food, land and nature
Aruna Chandrasekhar – land, food systems and nature reporter
Orla Dwyer – land, food systems and nature reporter
Anika Patel – China analyst
Questions can be submitted in advance by email via webinar@carbonbrief.org, or via Twitter using the hashtag #CBWebinar.

Please register in advance via this link:

Webinar Registration - Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1217024699312/WN_jOQYO1SyRASI-2stNuEI-w#/registration

The draft “really doesn’t meet the expectations of this COP in terms of the urgently needed transition to clean sources of energy and the phaseout of fossil fuels,” U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said during a fractious, closed-door meeting late Monday night and early Tuesday, which POLITICO listened to via an unsanctioned feed.
But representatives of other countries, including a bloc that includes China and India, said they would not accept any language proposing either a “phaseout” or “phase-down” of specific energy sources.

Negotiations at the Expo City campus on Dubai’s outskirts were expected to continue through the wee hours on Tuesday — the scheduled final day of the summit.

Earlier that evening, summit president Sultan al-Jaber urged the nearly 200 governments assembled to be flexible and make a deal. The “world is watching” after almost two weeks of discussion, said al-Jaber, who is also the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned oil company.

Protesters stood outside chanting: “This text is bullshit.”

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore unloaded on the proposal, saying in a statement that “COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure.”
“The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,” Gore said. “It is even worse than many had feared.”

Greens erupt as oil, gas and coal ‘phaseout’ is dropped from proposed COP28 climate deal - POLITICO
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/11/fossil-fuel-phaseout-dropped-cop28-00131066

1.8 Million Barrels of Oil a Day Avoided from Electric Vehicles - CleanTechnica
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/12/09/1-8-million-barrels-of-oil-a-day-avoided-from-electric-vehicles/

Two- and three-wheeled EVs account for about 60% of the oil demand avoided in 2023 due to their rapid adoption and large fleet, particularly in China, Southeast Asia and India.

...

Naturally, less oil being burnt means less CO2 emissions. BNEF estimates that electric vehicles currently prevent 112 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. And this is net emissions reductions, also taking into account the emissions from extra electricity generation.