Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 23 2021

AsiaElec EMISSIONS AsiaElec

US fails to persuade China to bring

forward 2030 peak emissions goal

CHINA THE US government has tried to persuade although it would move from acting as a base-
China to bring forward its current 2030 target for load fuel to providing flexibility.
peak CO2 emissions, Japanese media reported, Li Gao, the director-general of the Environ-
although China has rebuffed the request. ment Ministry’s Climate Change Department,
US Climate Envoy John Kerry urged Xie said that the country’s power plants would not
Zhenhua, China’s special representative on cli- run at full capacity in future.
mate affairs, to change the date during a meeting The US had set 2050 as its own goal for net-
in April in Shanghai, Japan’s Kyodo News said. zero carbon emissions, as well as the UK, the EU,
The disagreement adds climate change and Japan and South Korea.
emissions to the long list of disputes between Despite China’s ambitions to reduce coal, it is
the country countries, which includes trade and still the global leader in consumption of the fuel.
security. China continues to open new coal-fired
Kerry called for an earlier date for China’s power plants. Global Energy Monitor (GEM)
emissions goal, although he did not propose said in February that the country had commis-
a definite time. Xie said that China could not sioned 38.4 GW of coal-fired power in 2020,
accept the US demand as it is still a developing compared with 11.9 GW that was switched on in
nation, Kyodo News said. the rest of the world.
China has already set 2060 as a target date China currently has 247 GW of coal power
for total net zero, with 2030 as the date for CO2 capacity under development.
emissions to reach their maximum. Coal is still the country’s dominant source
Xi told the UN General Assembly in Sep- of power, although its market share is falling. In
tember 2020 that China would aim to be carbon 2005, 72% of China’s power came from coal, fall-
neutral by 2060. ing to 56.8% in 2020, according to government
However, in the shorter term China has data. China aims to bring this number below
reserved its right to use coal as a fuel for power 56% in 2021.™
generation, a major source of emissions,

NUCLEAR
China approves construction of

ACP100 small modular reactor

CHINA CHINA’S National Development and Reform is scheduled to begin, nor when it is due to be
Commission has approved plans to build the commissioned.
country’s first small modular reactor (SMR), The Hainan Changjiang Multi-purpose Small
known as ACP100. Modular Reactor Technology Demonstration
The 125-MW pressurised water reac- Project is owned by CNNC Hainan Nuclear
tor (PWR) unit, also called Linglong One, is Power Co., which is a wholly owned subsidiary
designed for electricity production, heating, of CNNP.
steam production or seawater desalination, The Linglong One small nuclear reactor tech-
China National Nuclear Power (CNNP), a sub- nology is owned by CNNC.
sidiary of China National Nuclear Corpora- CNNC announced plans in July 2019 to
tion (CNNC), said in an announcement on the launch construction of the ACP100 reactor at
Shanghai Stock Exchange. Changjiang.
“The small reactor demonstration pro- Under development since 2010, the ACP100
ject is of great significance to promote the safe integrated PWR’s preliminary design was com-
development and independent innovation of pleted in 2014.
nuclear power,” CNNP said. It did not say when The major components of its primary coolant
construction of the demonstration ACP100 circuit are installed within the reactor pressure

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 09•June•2021