China has an energy crisis.
To be more specific, China has a coal shortage.
Australia has lots of coal, but China doesn’t want it, even though its lights are going out.
Beijing is throwing a hissy fit. A year ago, it blocked imports of Aussie coal because “after Canberra backed a call for an international inquiry into Beijing’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak” (story here). If that seems petty, deploying nuclear submarines against the Chinese navy isn’t (story here).
China is trying to get more coal from Indonesia, but the latter is already operating at full capacity, and is even importing some coal from arch-rival America. But nowhere near enough.
“In June 2021, Chinese factories began to report power outages and electricity shortages,” The Diplomat reported in October 2021 (story here). Provinces where manufacturing is concentrated are experiencing blackouts. And now winter is approaching.
You know what this means, don’t you? More Uyghurs, political prisoners, and slaves will be sent to Mongolian coal mines. Meanwhile, Chinese are freezing in the dark.
Yet China in its 14th 5 year plan continues to rely on coal. In 2019 58% 0fthe nations power came from coal. In 2020 38 giga watts were added from new coal plants. 247 gigawatts are in planning or being built, and Chinese Provinces approved an additional 47 gigawatts in power. (Yale Environment 360, Yale School of Environment, MICHAEL STANDAERT • MARCH 24, 2021.
Seems the Chinese are trying to have it both ways and ignore that new plants increase demand, and if supply does not keep up prices rise, yet China Communist government denies this basic concept underlying capitalist theory, the CCP has simply set prices and demanded China produce more. And damn the CO2 produced by this increased burning of coa.
Yeah, communist dictatorship sucks, you’ve noticed that.