Solar overtakes coal as China's largest source of installed power capacity

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• Kind_to_Everyone@slrpnk.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  China still burns more coal than the rest of the planet combined. Its CO2 per kilowatt hour generated is 50% higher than the United States which is already terrible.

  So while I applaud the installation of solar, the cleanliness of the Chinese power sector remains reprehensible.

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• Womble@piefed.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Bit of a weaselly worded headline, as the article notes:

  • China had ​1,288 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity as of ⁠the end of July, against coal’s ​1,285 GW, according to energy administration figures ​and state-run media.
  • But solar’s contribution to power generation is lower since it cannot generate electricity when the ​sun isn’t shining. Wind and solar ​made up 24.6% of the power mix in the first ⁠half of the year, while coal was 49.7%

  So despite having more nominal installed solar capacity, still twice as much electricity is generated by burning coal as from wind+solar.

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  • kudra@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    it is still something to celebrate, it’s only if past this point the new coal fired power stations contribute more than retiring ones and new solar. That’s the metric to watch.

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