The world’s largest solar manufacturer has slashed nearly a third of its workforce after a cost-cutting drive that included telling staff to only print in black and white fell short and as a chill ripples through the renewable energy sector. China’s Longi is to cut as much as 30% of its workforce, in an acceleration of cost reductions that began late last year, Bloomberg reported. It is unclear exactly how many jobs will be lost at the company, which employed 80,000 at its peak last year, as an internal function…
Tag: Energy
World’s renewable energy capacity grew at record pace in 2023
Global renewable energy capacity grew by the fastest pace recorded in the last 20 years in 2023, which could put the world within reach of meeting a key climate target by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The world’s renewable energy grew by 50% last year to 510 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, the 22nd year in a row that renewable capacity additions set a new record, according to figures from the IEA. The “spectacular” growth offers a “real chance” of global governments meeting a…
Cop28: China ‘would like to see agreement to substitute renewables for fossil fuels’
China would like to see nations agree to substitute renewable energy for fossil fuels, the country’s chief climate official has said, as nations wrangled over the weekend on the wording of a deal on the climate crisis. Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy, would not be explicit on whether China supported or opposed a phase-out of fossil fuels, which more than 100 governments are pushing for at crucial climate talks, the Cop28 UN summit. But he did indicate that he and his delegation were engaging positively to try to find a…
China’s coal addiction puts spotlight on its climate ambitions before Cop28
China’s addiction to building new coal-fired power plants is becoming increasingly entrenched, even as the country is on track to reach peak CO2 emissions before its 2030 target. As climate officials from around the world prepare to meet in the United Arab Emirates for Cop28, many are hoping that the recent joint climate agreement between the US and China, released days before Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California, can lay the groundwork for positive commitments at the UN’s climate conference. The last major breakthrough involving China at Cop…
From China’s emissions to Australia’s offshore windfarms, things are moving on climate – some even in the right direction | Adam Morton
If you’re searching for some hope on the climate crisis before the Cop28 UN meeting in Dubai this month, try this: China may be changing direction on pollution earlier than expected. Lauri Myllyvirta, a longtime China analyst now with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, calculated that CO2 emissions from the world’s biggest national polluter are likely to fall next year and could then go into “structural decline”. While the country’s emissions have increased this year – unsurprisingly, given that Beijing lifted zero-Covid controls at the end…
China’s carbon emissions set for structural decline from next year
China’s carbon emissions could peak this year before falling into a structural decline for the first time from next year after a record surge in clean energy investments, according to research. Emissions from the world’s most polluting country have rebounded this year after the Chinese government dropped its Covid restrictions in January, according to analysis undertaken for Carbon Brief. However, this rebound in fossil fuel demand emerged alongside a historic expansion of the country’s low-carbon energy sources, which was far in excess of policymakers’ targets and expectations. Beijing’s solar and…
Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running ‘carbon bomb’ projects in 2022
Banks pumped more than $150bn last year into companies whose giant “carbon bomb” projects could destroy the last chance of stopping the planet heating to dangerous levels, the Guardian can reveal. The carbon bombs – 425 extraction projects that can each pump more than one gigaton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – cumulatively hold enough coal, oil and gas to burn through the rapidly dwindling carbon budget four times over. Between 2016 and 2022, banks mainly in the US, China and Europe gave $1.8tn in financing to the companies…
Japan to release second batch of wastewater from Fukushima nuclear plant next week
Japan will begin releasing a second batch of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant from next week, its operator has said, an exercise that angered China and others when it began in August. On 24 August, Japan began discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34m tonnes of wastewater that has collected since a tsunami crippled the facility in 2011. “The inspections following the first release have been completed … The (second) discharge will start on 5 October,” Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said on Thursday. China banned all Japanese…
State-backed disinformation fuelling anger in China over Fukushima water
Fake news and state-backed disinformation are fuelling Chinese anger at Japan over its release of treated wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant. In the last week, there have been reports of rocks and eggs thrown at Japanese schools in two Chinese cities, abusive phone calls to Japanese businesses and social media campaigns to boycott Japanese products including cosmetics. It has prompted Japan’s government to summon the Chinese ambassador and urge caution among its China-based citizens. Japan began its release of more than 1m tonnes of water on 24 August.…
China continues coal spree despite climate goals
China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets. The government has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, and in 2021 the president, Xi Jinping, pledged to stop building coal powered plants. But after regional power crunches in 2022, China started a spree of approving new projects and restarting suspended ones. In 2022 the government approved a record-breaking 86 gigawatts (GW) of…