China’s climate pollution rose during the first three months of this year in part because the country’s grid failed to integrate large portions of solar and wind power that was generated by renewable energy facilities.
The country’s carbon dioxide emissions increased 2 percent compared to the same period last year as China used more coal and gas to meet electricity demand. That’s largely because of rising wind and solar curtailment — when energy is generated but not used — according to a new analysis in Carbon Brief by Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a nonprofit research organization.
If the clean energy had not been wasted, power sector climate pollution would have remained flat, extending a brief trend in which China’s emissions fell or remained even. Instead, power-sector emissions grew 4 percent, a rise that helped push the country’s overall emissions up 2 percent, the analysis found.
The growth in emissions comes as the world tries to adjust to oil and gas shortages sparked by the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran. How China responds could have implications for the pace of its clean energy transition.
