When global
leaders converge on Paris Nov. 30 for the 2015 United Nations climate change
conference, they
should create guidelines and incentives for developing nations to cooperate
with one another
on lower-carbon energy projects, according to a report led by Princeton
University
researchers.
Chinese firms in particular have recently accelerated the growth of coal power
in
developing
nations, particularly in Asia, the researchers found. They conducted the first
tally of
power plants
around the world involving Chinese companies. The graph above shows power plant
capacity built
with China-based firms (bottom axis), measured in gigawatts (GW), per global
region
(left axis). The
colored bars correspond with a particular energy source with black representing
coal. The
researchers found that among the power capacities in Asian countries other than
China that involve
Chinese firms, 68 percent in operation (a), 77 percent under construction (b),
and 76 percent in planning (c) burn coal. (Image
courtesy of Nature Climate Change; Hannam et al.)
(October 28, 2015) The
paper, which includes the first tally of Chinese involvement in power plants
around the world, includes co-authors Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G.
Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton;
Zhenliang Liao, an associate professor of environmental science and engineering
at Tongji University; and Steven Davis, an assistant professor of earth system
science at UC-Irvine.
Carbon emissions continue to rise from energy production as
developing nations such as India, Brazil and South Africa fuel their rapid industrialization,
the researchers report. At the same time, developing nations such as China have
the capital and technology to support other burgeoning economies. But the lack
of international attention — and UN incentives — for developing nations to support
each other's energy needs in a low-carbon way has helped keep coal power a
popular choice, according to the authors.
Chinese firms — which often have financial or policy backing
from China's state banks — have poured coal-power equipment into other Asian
countries, partly as a result of China's slowing domestic power-market growth.
The situation could get worse as China pledges to reduce domestic carbon
emissions, according to the paper. The researchers found that of the total
power capacities in Asian countries other than China that have involvement from
Chinese firms, 68 percent in operation, 77 percent under construction and 76
percent in planning burn coal. This level of involvement in coal exceeds the
global trend, Hannam said.