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China Coal

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  1. #1

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    What would that look like on a per capita basis? Australia would look pretty bad I think.
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  2. #2

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    That depends on whether your global impact is limited to using coal, or if it sensibly includes coal exports.

  3. #3

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    That seems accurate. Refer to page 45.

    https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/bu...ull-report.pdf

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    Considering we would use BP statistics as one of our sources, by definition, yes.

    But yes, generally, it matches what I know about China. The Chinese electricity system is the absolutely huge - and it's over 90% coal. But more than that, China uses (still) a HUGE amount of coal in factories and other boilers - this is rare in most other countries but still very common in China. Gas use is very low in China (but growing rapidly) ...

    and get this

    Even though China has the world's LARGEST CAPACITY of solar... it only deliver about 4% of the total power!

    So China is able to say, on the one hand "We have more solar than anyone else" but on the other hand they use more coal than everyone else put together at the same time. Mind boggling eh.

  5. #5

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    I agree with your point but equally to not take into account the size of the country is misleading. Both figures would be best.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    What would that look like on a per capita basis? Australia would look pretty bad I think.
    Only absolutes matter. But to answer your question, China uses more coal on a per capita basis than the U.S., about 2.6t vs 2t. Australia uses about 20t per capita. China uses as much coal as as the next 9 biggest consumers combined, including India, USA, Russia and Australia.

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    Why is Japan so high?!


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    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    Only absolutes matter. But to answer your question, China uses more coal on a per capita basis than the U.S., about 2.6t vs 2t. Australia uses about 20t per capita. China uses as much coal as as the next 9 biggest consumers combined, including India, USA, Russia and Australia.
    So small countries can burn as much coal as they like? Yes only the absolute figures matter in relation to global coal burning but if comparing countries then size needs to be considered. Or perhaps percentage of electricity generation.
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  9. #9

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    Of course it would be left in the ground, that's kind of the point of not taking it out of the ground, because if it's still there it isn't being burnt.

    Australia likes to take a holier than thou approach to its coal production, claims it doesn't use much, and when called out, simply shrugs its slopey shoulders and says it employs too many people (translated: it makes too much money). Supply and demand dictates the energy decisions made by governments and utilities. Australia produces 40% of the world's coal, and exports 75% of what it takes out of the ground.

    If prices went up because Australia finally found a moral backbone about its contribution to pollution issues worldwide, more governments might be encouraged to stop using it. A lack of willingness to tackle social misconceptions around nuclear might finally be overcome and the planet can finally have clean energy.
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  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    So small countries can burn as much coal as they like?
    Yes, because countries with less pollution aren't less affected by global warming, see the tiny Pacific nations. Them burning some coal isn't even a blip in the statistics.

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