1 minute ago, candide said:

For solar panels, they may produce around 80% of the world production.

Violating decent labour standards and not caring about pollution....

5 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Violating decent labour standards and not caring about pollution....

Probably.

22 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Your allegation is that China has not stolen renewable energy technology? All the advances are solely from the genius of the brilliant Han civilization?

IIRC the Chinese invented both gunpowder and paper. The insinuation they are incapable of inventing and advancing science does fall somewhat flat.

 

I guess having 48,000 km of high speed rail across China compared with America's 150 km is just pure luck.

3 hours ago, Alan Zweibel said:

Since the beginning of the industrial age, the global economy has required more and more fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — to power growth.
It is increasingly clear, however, that China’s aggressive efforts to sell batteries, solar panels and wind turbines to the world is on course to bring that era to an end, a new report says. The Chinese dominance of clean-energy industries is “creating the conditions for a decline in fossil fuel use,” according to a report by Ember, a research group focused on the prospects for clean-energy technologies.

The report includes a sprawling set of data to support its claim.

https://archive.ph/kRVro#selection-699.0-699.65

By 2027, South Australia will be 100% renewable energy. The target has accelerated from 2030.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

IIRC the Chinese invented both gunpowder and paper. The insinuation they are incapable of inventing and advancing science does fall somewhat flat.

Thats your guilty conscience? Do you disagree that the Chinese are known technology theives?

 

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

I guess having 48,000 km of high speed rail across China compared with America's 150 km is just pure luck.

No its a function of  transport needs, no environmental rules, exploited labor, authoritatian relocation of population and lack of necessity for profit. Your simplistic comparison ridden with your animus towards the West (except for your own racist and authoritarian country propped up by the USA) thus fails.

 

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

By 2027, South Australia will be 100% renewable energy. The target has accelerated from 2030.

Guess you will have a primitive economy there.

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Fair point on the demand growth... 

 

However, the difference is stark and deliberate:

- Electricity demand growth pertains solely to the additional electricity required compared to the previous year - driven by factors such as increased residential consumption, industrial expansion, and the proliferation of electric vehicles.

- Energy demand, however, encompasses all forms of energy consumption, including oil, coal, natural gas, renewables, and nuclear power.

 

In 2024, clean electricity sources - primarily wind and solar - accounted for 84% of China's electricity demand growth, a notable increase from 47% in the previous decade.

 

Yet, this statistic is profoundly misleading. It conveniently omits China's substantial and growing reliance on coal. In 2024, China initiated the construction of 94.5 gigawatts of new coal-fired power capacity - the highest in a decade.

 

Simultaneously, coal consumption increased by 1.7%, and coal imports reached a record high of 542.7 million metric tons.

 

This juxtaposition of rapid renewable expansion with an unabated coal build-out paints a misleading picture of China's energy landscape. While wind and solar are indeed growing, they are not supplanting coal; rather, they are being added alongside it.

 

The narrative that China's renewable energy efforts are significantly displacing fossil fuels is, at best, an oversimplification.

In essence, highlighting that wind and solar met 84% of electricity demand growth without acknowledging the simultaneous surge in coal infrastructure is not only selective reporting but also intellectually dishonest.

Maybe you would call an increase of 1.7% a surge. I don't think most would. As for the article failing to mention coal demand...

"The country has not yet seen a decline in coal usage overall, though its total greenhouse gas emissions have reached what looks like a plateau."

And here's the final paragraph:

"Investment and production in clean energy last year contributed nearly $2 trillion to China’s economy, a figure which the report said was around one-tenth of the country’s economy as a whole, or comparable to Australia’s entire economy. The clean energy sector grew at a rate three times that of China’s economy overall, according to the report."

In fact, Chines consumption of coal powered electricity declined by 5% in the first quarter of 2025. Its increase in coal consumption was due to a rise in its use by the steel industry.

"China’s coal-fired electricity generation took an unexpectedly sharp turn downward in the first quarter of 2025, signaling a potentially profound shift in the world’s largest coal-consuming economy. This wasn’t merely a seasonal dip or economic distress signal; rather, it represented a clear and structural turning point. Coal generation fell by approximately 4.7% year over year, significantly outpacing the overall grid electricity supply decline of just 1.3%. However, electricity demand, a better measure, went up by 1%...

Looking closer, the slight rise in coal usage within China’s steel sector reinforces this interpretation. Coal consumed for steelmaking edged upward by around 2%, driven by stable, slightly growing crude steel production.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/04/20/chinas-coal-generation-dropped-5-yoy-in-q1-as-electricity-demand-increased/

Renewables' share of electricty generation jumped sharply in 2025.

 

8 hours ago, Lacessit said:

By 2027, South Australia will be 100% renewable energy. The target has accelerated from 2030.

Propped up by interstate interconnectors.

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

Propped up by interstate interconnectors.

That goes both ways. South Australia exports solar electricity to the national grid when it has excess energy.