China plans to reduce average coal consumption during electricity generation at power plants to improve energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
By 2025, coal-fired power plants must adjust their consumption rate to an average of 300g of standard coal per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement yesterday.
“Further promoting the energy saving and consumption reduction at coal-fired power units is an effective means to improve energy efficiency and is of great significance for achieving carbon emission peak in the power industry,” the commission said.
Photo: AFP
Carbon dioxide emissions from the power generation and heating sector accounts for about 40 percent of total emissions of the gas in China.
Average coal use last year for the generation of electricity was 305.5g per kWh, down from 370g per kWh in 2005.
“The reduction of coal use helped to cut 6.67 billion tonnes of [carbon dioxide] emissions from the power sector in 2006-2020, or 36 percent of total emission reductions in the industry,” the commission said.
The commission asked new power plant projects to adopt ultra-super critical units that consume coal at an average rate below 270g per kWh, while new water-cooling units that use more than 285g per kWh and air-cooling units higher than 300g per kWh will not be allowed.
It also said that power plants with average coal use above 300g per kWh that cannot be upgraded for energy efficiency improvement would be shut down.
The country also plans to complete flexibility adjustments at 200 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity by 2025, which would help transform coal plants to backup power sources from the dominant fuel source currently and help boost use of power from renewable sources.
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
Czech intelligence chief Michal Koudelka has spent decades uncovering Russian spy networks, sabotage attempts and disinformation campaigns against Europe. Speaking in an interview from a high-security compound on the outskirts of Prague, he is now warning allies that pushing Kyiv to accept significant concessions to end the war in Ukraine would only embolden the Kremlin. “Russia would spend perhaps the next 10 to 15 years recovering from its huge human and economic losses and preparing for the next target, which is central and eastern Europe,” said Koudelka, a major general who heads the country’s Security Information Service. “If Ukraine loses, or is forced
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
RSS