China's coal consumption will peak in 2024 at around 4.08 billion tonnes and account for around 50% of total energy consumption. — Reuters
BEIJING: Primary energy consumption in China is expected to peak during the 2030-2035 period to 6.03 billion tonne standard coals and drop to 5.6 billion tonne standard coals around 2060, a report says.
Carbon emissions associated with energy in China are likely to peak by 2030 at around 9.9 billion tonnes and gradually fall to 1.7 billion tonnes by 2060 through carbon capture, utilisation and storage as well as carbon sink, according to China Energy Outlook 2060 report released by the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute.
The institute said the energy and chemicals sectors, as pillar industries of the national economy as well as major emitters of carbon dioxide, should continue innovation and research for further carbon and consumption reduction.
Dai Baohua, general manager of the institute, said natural gas, solar and wind power will contribute the most to the growth of primary energy consumption during the 2020-2030 period, accounting for around 91% of the increment.
Thanks to the large-scale development of clean energy, especially solar and wind power, consumption of fossil fuels is expected to decrease by 3.15 billion tonne standard coals during the 2030-2060 period, Dai said.
The report said coal is the only energy feedstock that will witness a consumption decrease. Power generation, steelmaking, construction materials and petrochemicals will be the four biggest coal consumers.
Coal consumption will peak in 2024 at around 4.08 billion tonnes and account for around 50% of total energy consumption.
The consumption will gradually decrease during the 2025-2030 period and is expected to drop to 3.87 billion tonnes around 2030, accounting for around 46% of total energy consumption.
Energy consumption per gross domestic product will keep decreasing while per capita energy consumption will continue to increase, it said. — China Daily/ANN
