UK follows China's lead away from coal

Rupert Reid Sino.uk Published: 2017-05-12 17:14:40
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China has recently been a pioneer in investing in cleaner energy supplies. Now the UK is following suit, whilst the USA takes a different path.

Miles of photovoltaic panels are seen in a suburb in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. There's a growing divide in energy policies between China, the UK and the EU on one side, and the USA on the other. [Photo: VCG]

Miles of photovoltaic panels are seen in a suburb in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. There's a growing divide in energy policies between China, the UK and the EU on one side, and the USA on the other. [Photo: VCG]

With one notable exception, the world is turning its back on coal.

On April 21st, for the first time in over a century, the United Kingdom managed to power itself without using coal.

Although this sounds great, there are two key caveats.

Firstly, the country imports a huge amount of energy from other countries and secondly, whilst the UK is undoubtedly dedicated to lowering emissions, it hasn't been a recent pioneer in this arena.

In that regard, China has undoubtedly been the global leader.

A coal mine in Qinghuangdao, one of China's major coastal hub. There's a growing divide in energy policies between China, the UK and the EU on one side, and the USA on the other. [Photo: cs.com.cn]

A coal mine in Qinghuangdao, one of China's major coastal hub. There's a growing divide in energy policies between China, the UK and the EU on one side, and the USA on the other. [Photo: cs.com.cn]

Indeed, China's transformation to become a clean energy economy has intensified over recent months.

In January, China's massive financial commitment to renewable energy had already lead to the UK's own environmental policy being called into question.

Then, in March, the steel and coal industries in China face new capacity cuts in a further bid to cut pollution in the country.

That news was according to the National Development and Reform Commission, who have announced plans to suspend construction of large coal power plants and cut a total of 200 million tonnes of coal and steel output this year.

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