China produced as much new clean energy in the first half of this year as the UK's generated energy output from all sources in the same period last year, data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) revealed on Thursday, indicating a surge in wind and solar-powered energy in the world's leading greenhouse gas-emitter.

The report, which was released by the Chinese government, showed a 5% drop in electricity generation from coal and gas in July, highlighting the nation's transformation to renewable energy shaped by incorporating record-breaking amounts of solar and wind generation. 

“China is leading against all of its competitors, when it comes to green technology,” Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Policy Institute in Washington DC, said, adding that “China has a real advantage, and has established a huge green industry.”

China goes green

China set a new record last year through the installation of 293GW, ultimately leading to wind and solar capacity exceeding the country's coal-based electricity capacity. According to Rystad Energy, solar power alone will replace coal as the primary energy source with a total capacity of 1.38TW, which is 150 GW higher than coal.

Other enhancements China has made in an attempt to switch to renewable energy generation is through the rapid rise of electric vehicles, with hybrids and fully electric cars composing more than half of the latest models sold in July. Additionally, this clean practice extended to the steel industry since no permits were issued to coal-fired plants in the first half of this year.

Based on China's continuing enhancement and integration of clean energy, some analysts suggest that the nation's greenhouse gas emissions have reached a peak potentially as early as February.

China's carbon footprint

China is responsible for approximately a quarter of the world's carbon output, amounting to the combined total emissions of the world's developed countries. 

Back in 2020, China made an official objective aiming to reach its emissions peak by 2030. However, analysts have argued that the country can achieve its peak by 2025 through the government's effective intervention and action. Essentially, global emissions must be halved by 2030 to limit global heating to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which is generally unlikely without China's efforts to peak in the first half of the decade and rapidly decrease in the second half.

The CREA reported that carbon dioxide emissions from energy use and cement production, which account for over 90% of China’s total emissions, began to decrease in March. CO2 outputs decreased by approximately 1% in the second quarter of the year, marking the first quarterly decline since the economy reopened post-lockdowns. As a result, emissions from the power sector decreased by about 3%, cement production by 7%, and oil consumption also fell by 3%.

“If renewable energy continues to displace coal power generation, 2024 emissions could continue to decrease, potentially making 2023 the peak year for China’s emissions,” Qi Qin, an analyst at CREA, said.

China's primary issue is the provision of its power, where 60% was generated by coal in 2023. Although the country is increasing renewable energy generation, coal-fired power plans worth over 40GW last year continue to be built.

“It’s clear that the economy is not in the shape China’s policymakers would want it to be, so the actions they take to boost growth will determine whether this drop in emissions marks the peak," lead analyst at CREA Lauri Myllyvirta said, adding "if growth shifts to less energy-intensive sectors, and the current rate of clean energy additions continues, then emissions will begin their long-term decline.”