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A comment on China is building more coal plants but might burn less coal. Parent comment

Re:China is building more coal plants but might burn less coal by itsoktocry on Tuesday February 20, 2024 @09:03AM (#39441388)
>Think about it this way, if solar and wind are cheaper, why is China building coal plants? Why was Germany signing multi-decade deals with Russia and building new pipelines (at least before the war) to ship Russia's natural gas? What do they know, that you don't know?

This is the right question to ask.

China is the global leader in battery and solar tech, yet they are building many coal plants. Why?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:China is building more coal plants but might burn less coal by macspoofing on Tuesday February 20, 2024 @10:18AM (#39442291)
>China is the global leader in battery and solar tech, yet they are building many coal plants. Why?

The answer is clear, solar and wind (+batteries) as a technology stack, cannot serve as baseload - so they cannot actually replace traditional sources of power (nuclear, fossil fuels, hydro).

The people making decisions to build more coal, and invest in Russian natural gas, understand this. The public seems to not understand it.

[ Parent | on HN ]