Analysis: Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time - Carbon Brief
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For the first time, the growth in China’s clean power generation has caused the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to fall despite rapid power demand growth.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/22189256

The latest data, for the first quarter of 2025, shows that China’s CO2 emissions have now been stable or falling for more than a year, as shown in the figure below.

However, with emissions remaining just 1% below the recent peak, it remains possible that they could jump once again to a new record high.

Outside of the power sector, emissions increased 3.5%, with the largest rises in the use of coal in the metals and chemicals industries.

Sector-by-sector analysis suggests that, in addition to the power sector, emissions have likely also peaked in the building materials and steel sectors, as well as oil products consumption.

  • jonne@infosec.pubEnglish
    31·
    3 days ago

    People don’t understand how growth works. And there’s a lot of fossil fuel propaganda (“what are you going to do at night / when there’s no wind”). You can deal with those things using batteries, pumped storage and by shifting load.

    • Valmond@lemmy.worldEnglish
      18·
      3 days ago

      Solar panel cost drops -50% each 11-12 years too. It’s crazy actually.

      I have done some napkin calculations and those 400W balcony panels (full kit) are paid off in around 5 years. And it’s just getting better and better.

      • Aqarius@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        2 days ago

        ROI of on-grid solar, just in general, is 5-7 years. Down from 10-15 some 10-15 years ago.