The global economy has been sucker punched by a world wide pandemic, but ABC propaganda writers don’t miss the chance to push their ultimate fantasy, that coal has turned a magical point in a terminal decline. Global coal fired capacity fell by an awesome 0.14 percent for the “First Time On Record”. Hyperbole knows no bounds.
How excited can someone get over a decline of one sixth of one percent? This much:
The world is now shutting down coal plants faster than it’s opening them
by James Purtill, ABC
The world’s combined coal power capacity has fallen for the first time on record as the closure of generators outstripped stations being commissioned. That’s good news for global emissions.
Note the numbers:
Coal power capacity fell by 2.9 gigawatt in the first half of 2020 — a small though significant drop of about 0.14 per cent, according to US research group Global Energy Monitor, which monitors fossil fuel developments.
By comparison, the global coal fleet had grown by an average of 25GW every six months over the previous two decades, from 2000-2019.
In a nutshell, or just a nut, coal power grew by 50GW every year for 20 years, but “coincidentally” fell by 3GW during a pandemic and therefore this is the start of the spiral of doom? Oh Yessity:
The reported drop confirms 2020 will be a “pivot point” for global electricity supply and mark the long-term decline of coal-fired generation, said Tim Buckley, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. [IEEFA]
“It’s unbelievable watching this space, it’s moving so bloody fast,” he told Hack.
“So bloody fast” sayth Tim from the IEEFA which is an institute whose “mission is to accelerate the transition”. Not that the ABC tells us that he is an industry hack paid to promote unreliable energy.
The ABC advertising copywriter could have interviewed a coal industry analyst but it was against his religion.
The only other person interviewed was Christine Shearer from the group that wrote the report. That’s GEM or the Global Energy Monitor which is an NGO activist group “in support of fossil fuel phase out”. How’s that for balance? Two anti-coal activists get taxpayer funded free adverts, no hard questions asked.
She gushes too:
India has also shrunk its coal-fired capacity in 2020, “an unthinkable prospect just a few years ago,” Ms Shearer said.
They do concede that the pandemic might have something to do with the decline:
“The decline is not entirely to do with the technological obsolescence of coal — the pandemic is definitely a major factor,” Mr Buckley said.
Spot the long term trend in Indian emissions:
Is that red line a meaningless pandemic blip or a real long term trend?
Indian coal use is in sudden decline?
The little detail about global industrial might is quietly buried:
At the same time, China has boosted its coal generating capacity — in the first half of 2020 it built 86 per cent of new coal generation.
“These shifts mean China is for the first time now home to half the world’s operating coal fleet,” Ms Shearer said.
Right. All the rest-of-the-world’s coal fired electricity generation combined is now less than China’s. The CCP controls most of the cheapest source of electricity in the world. Maybe that matters?
Author: China map User:DrRandomFactor and Dragon: Nyo.