Monday, August 19, 2019

China's Belt and Road Plan Is Destroying the World

That may be a bit of hyperbole but the BRI is certainly messing with the economies of developing countries. It seems that every week we see a story like this at the SCMP, May 4: "China agrees to restructure Republic of Congo’s debt, African nation says". Cobalt.

From The National Interest another consideration:
Most Chinese-financed, coal-fired power plants built overseas use low-efficiency, subcritical coal technology, which produces some of the highest emissions of any form of power generation. Thus, China is destroying the environment.

hina has continually assured the world that its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a green project. At the first BRI forum in May 2017, Chinese president Xi Jinping touted BRI as a “vision of green development and a way of life and work that is green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable.” Similar promises were made at this year’s forum in April. However, China has long been the world’s largest exporter of coal power equipment, exporting twice as much as its nearest competitor. At the same time as the first forum, Chinese companies were building an estimated 140 coal plants abroad, including in countries like Egypt and Pakistan that previously burned little to no coal. At the current rate, Chinese coal plant developers will drive energy investments that make it impossible to limit global warming to safe levels. If Chinese development banks continue their current practices, then pollution will inevitably worsen around the world.

The Belt and Road’s Dirty Truths
Much of what Beijing touts as development assistance for power projects worsens pollution. Nearly 40 percent of Chinese Development Bank (CDB) and Chinese Ex-Im spending on electricity generation has gone toward coal. As a result, the amount of coal-fired generation Chinese policy banks are directly responsible for between 2013, the year that BRI was announced, and 2018 could generate enough electricity to power Norway or Poland.

This surge in coal-fired generation will come with a drastic emissions increase. Chinese development finance flows between 2013 and 2018, by conservative estimates, will contribute to annual emissions equivalent to that of the Netherlands. Overall, projects backed by Chinese development banks will produce more coal-fired power globally than clean energy generation, setting the path ahead in the wrong direction. If it were not for government support, then Chinese coal power suppliers almost certainly would not be as successful and global emissions would be fewer.

The CDB and Chinese Ex-Im financed power plants in thirty-eight countries since 2013, nearly half of which are fossil fuel-based. Most Chinese-financed, coal-fired power plants built overseas use low-efficiency, subcritical coal technology, which produces some of the highest emissions of any form of power generation. In more than one-third of countries, projects funded by the Chinese development banks increase national emissions intensity. That is, Chinese foreign aid makes those countries’ power sectors higher emitting than before....
....MUCH MORE

Back in June ZeroHedge had a story, "China Aims For 30 "New Silk Road" Nuclear Reactors By 2030" and that's all well and good but it appears China is currently offshoring some of its coal burning while at home we see (July 25):
"Stunning aerial view of China's longest coal transport route..."
China is still building-out its coal infrastructure.
You didn't believe the "largest developer of renewables" spin did you?

They are the largest developer of renewables and they are the largest developer of nuclear and they are the largest developer of coal and will be the largest developer of natural gas if they can steal a bit of Japan's cutting edge technology for extracting methane clathrates or American fracking tech.

From Xinhua's twitter feed, a fancy piece of engineering:

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