The new report on coal-fired power plants and their emissions raises the alarm: we must free ourselves from this energy source if we really want to contain global warming
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
There are still too many coal-fired power plants, in operation or planned, if the world really wants to achieve the goal of containing global warming by + 1,5 ° C by the end of the century. This is what emerges from the report of the non-profit association Global Energy Monitor, which denounces: from 2020 to 2021 the production of electricity from coal, instead of decreasing, has increased by 9%!
The use of this fossil fuel as an energy source it seemed to be in decline, but the recent geopolitical upheavals and the need to break free from Russian energy sources as soon as possible have brought coal back into play: in addition to the plants currently in operation or under construction, in fact, new power plants powered by this fuel are also planned - far too many, according to experts.
According to the data released by the report, last year the energy produced from coal in new plants decreased by about 13%, from 525 GW to 457 GW - a record low. In the same period, the number of countries that have designed new plants also decreased, from 41 to 34.
(Read also: And meanwhile India gives the green light to the expansion of coal mines in the indigenous forests of Hasdeo)
Unfortunately however, these were encouraging signs counterbalanced by the coexistence of the old coal plants, not yet out of service. The presence of obsolete but still functioning plants has therefore led to an increase in the production of electricity from coal by 9%, with a consequent increase in emissions of polluting gases into the atmosphere.
The authors of the report conclude with a sad observation: the world does not seem to be ready to say goodbye to coal as an energy source yet - even if the countries that met last November at COP26 have all agreed on the need for a phase-down of this fuel.
In short, the massive use of coal continues despite the increasingly severe warnings of scientists, who threaten a large exceeding of the ceiling imposed on global warming if the polluting emissions do not stop now, as well explained by Flora Champagne of Global Energy Monitor, among the authors of the report:
Energy production in coal-fired plants is shrinking, but there is simply no more carbon footprint for building new coal-fired plants. We have to stop now. The directive in the latest IPCC report for a fight for a liveable climate is clear: stop building new coal plants and retire existing ones in the developed world by 2030 and the rest of the world soon after.
The greatest responsibility in this juncture is attributable to China, a country that most of all has promoted the creation of new power plants coal-fired over the next few years. In the rest of the world, there are still more than 2.400 coal-fired plants in operation in 79 countries, producing nearly 2.100 GW of energy.
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Fonte: Global Energy Monitor
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