this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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Analysis: Record surge of clean energy in 2024 halts China’s CO2 rise - Carbon Brief (www.carbonbrief.org)
submitted 1 week ago by humanspiral@lemmy.ca to c/climate@slrpnk.net
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emissions down in last 10 months of 2024. Very likely that trailing 12 months are down too (not covered in article, but something they will pick up)

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[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone -3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

love the comments on that cross post shitting on the US /s

The US is far ahead of China when it comes to co2 emissions reductions

China is playing catchup here, for those about to tell me they’re installing so much renewables!! They need to because it’s obscene how much co2 they output

Also looking at India who appear to be undoing all the work the west is doing in co2 reduction

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

US reductions are based on

  1. The assumption that natural gas doesn't leak, and replacement of coal for natural gas.
  2. more importantly, deindustrialization and efficiency improvements in computers and TVs and lighting.

China's electricity consumption grew 8% last year. Typical since 2000. US electricity has been pretty stable since 2007.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

emissions is a function of how much coal plants are used. Plan is likely backup power. OP reports less coal electricity use in 2024. More solar will reduce it more. Europe has declined fossil electricity by over 10% this year. China's growth is just extremely high, but they too will have large declines soon.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Ok but right now in terms of putting actual runs on the board America is doing better than China, the inflation reduction act was also gold

I've noticed that shitting on America seems to be acceptable but shitting on China for their obscene co2 emissions comes with caveats like: the plan is likely... in the future it should... soon there will be...

Meanwhile the US and EU:

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

+1, but with the addendum that the next few years might not look good for the US.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

thats true, i’ve also read

https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/10-reasons-why-us-president-elect-donald-trump-cant-derail-global-climate-action/

and with his recent wacky economic policies likely to cause a recession which will result in less demand which will also reduce co2 is just one of those great ironies

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It’s already hit oil companies hard, again massively ironic, heh. Especially if other countries tariff US oil… which I haven’t heard, but strategically is not a bad idea.

[–] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

If the tariffs get high enough, it will just mean more American oil will be used domestically.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Your graph will make China look better when it includes 2024. The only thing you can control on energy mix is growth rate. Adding more fast enough. You should go easy on praise for US, as Ukraine war is both a massive emission increase, and scramble for new "good oil" supply developments, and deprioritization of global sustainability. The IRA, while better than nothing, is a scheme to protect monopoly profits using "climate change as a profitability/relevance economic engine" for the US market, and the solar/battery/EV tariffs designed to make actual progress as slow as possible.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'm not heaping praise on the US they're doing ok, I'm asking why there's so much praise for China, it's getting a hell of a lot of praise for emissions reductions that are yet to show even a blip on any chart

The IRA, while better than nothing,

First of all "better than nothing" are you joking? now I have to wonder if you are a chinese bot or a partisan hack.

Two years ago, President Joe Biden signed a landmark $391 billion climate solutions investment bill — the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This once-in-a-generation legislation has supercharged the process of replacing our deadly fossil fuel economy with clean energy while investing in critical air monitoring technologies, pollution reduction programs, environmental justice priorities, and efficient permitting processes.

https://earthjustice.org/article/the-biggest-climate-spending-bill-ever-just-turned-two-heres-what-it-has-achieved

It was so massive Europe got worried it was going to take all their green tech companies away

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday Europe needed an urgent response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act to ensure a future for its industry and welcomed the mandate given to the European Commission to come up with a plan early next year.

So yeah it's a little bit better than nothing, it was super massive.

And what is this?

is a scheme to protect monopoly profits using “climate change as a profitability/relevance economic engine” for the US market, and the solar/battery/EV tariffs designed to make actual progress as slow as possible.

A majority of emissions come from energy:

China is building coal power plants at record rates while the west closes them down and you're unhappy that the US and EU are trying to get some manufacturing back? or even retain what little they've still got left?

Just to confirm: you're unhappy countries with a lower co2 output are trying to manufacture goods?

a scheme to protect monopoly profits

what monopoly lol, china has the monopoly on green tech for like a decade now

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

The IRA was indeed a massive manufacturing development push for the US. It is politically popular to create manufacturing jobs. Pro oil, high interest rate, war policies undermined renewables, and many approved IRA projects were cancelled, because even with domestic credit monopoly incentives, the US is uncompetitive and a full supply chain plan doesn't work when giving each cog monopoly benefits where banking system doesn't buy in to sink projects. Zionist supremacist/ADL sides with oil oligarchy, and after Oct 7th sided with anti-woke, and DNC made sure most pro zionist candidate won. Israel needs the primacy of oil to continue.

Best part of it was green hydrogen subsidies for output. For $20B per year for 20 year cost, offering completed projects 2% financing, at government cost of 4% up to 100% of value, but based on revenue supporting accelerated repayment would allow for $1T of "revolving" projects. A carbon tax and dividend is the most effective climate policy that also reduces FF costs by shifting demand, as well as costing 0. Nationalizing oil industry, without shareholder compensation, is necessary to stop their lobbying/disinformation and priortization of war over national/human interests.

US politics favouring a war on China, and desperate attempts to diminish China, means pure stupidity meant to diminish humanity and prosperity including in the US. National security arguments for manufacturing don't apply to renewables. You have energy independence once you have the solar panels. If future energy expansion requires energy from the enemy you fabricated, you still have coal and oil wells. There is a much stronger national security argument for apparel which you need a steady supply of, if you will start a war on whole ASEAN block. Mild tariffs on China meant to have them invest in friendly US production without subsidies is counter to oligarchist war mongering/oil agenda of US rule, but the path to US/global prosperity. Divisive-sabotage democracy simply isn't working.

[–] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The very graph you posted indicates that the US needs to reduce their CO2 emissions by 1/3 to meet the per capita emissions of China, and a good part of China's energy consumption is producing goods that are used around the world. Their ratio of renewables to fossil is also increasing. Yes, that isn't helping climate change, and yes, it is improving the state of things for Chinese people, but don't pretend that a lot of this industry isn't directly driven by the lifestyles of people in the developed world.

It's easy to point fingers at them for doing what the developed world has been doing for most of the last 200 years.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

you missing that china has 700 million more people than the us, their co2 output in real terms is absurd

i don’t particularly care that an island of 50 people has the highest co2 output per capita because it pales in comparison to the sheer volume of co2 china puts out

now look at the co2 output of india

whole lot of people in the west lamenting that we’re not doing enough, for the last 20 years every kilo of co2 we in the weat squash with renewables india and china are picking up and producing two

[–] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, I could counter that point, which I already said was valid, but I already gave those points and you completely ignored them. Continue as you are, I'm sure it gives some relief from any feelings of responsibility for your actions and the carbon emitted to allow it.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 0 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Continue as you are, I’m sure it gives some relief from any feelings of responsibility for your actions and the carbon emitted to allow it.

You're free to help out, you can support me here https://ecologi.com/ikt

But everyone in this joint seems to be dirt poor and struggling to put food on their family