DAVID BLACKMON: On Energy, China Knows What The Rest Of Us Must Re-Learn

A report by Bloomberg this week details the reality of an energy transition that isn’t happening and isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. The story’s headline says it all: “China Builds Most Coal-Fired Plants in Decade for Power Security.”

Oh.

But wait, you may be thinking at this point: For the last five years now, much of the legacy media – including, quite often, Bloomberg itself – has been assuring us all that we are in the midst of a global transition away from “fossil fuels”, i.e., coal, oil, and natural gas, to “renewables”, i.e., wind, solar, hydrogen and other industries favored by the crony capitalism practiced in the U.S. by the Democrat party. Touting this glowing green narrative has become a significant industry within much of the media establishment, with millions of dollars from billionaire-funded foundations pouring into many outlets in exchange for pushing it.

Even with all the narratives, not to mention all of the trillions of dollars in green energy subsidies enacted by governments around the world in recent years, those bad old fossil fuels still supply about 80% of the world’s primary energy, essentially unchanged from the turn of the 21^st century.

So, what is “power security,” the term of art used by Bloomberg’s headline writers? Well, power security is energy security. And, as anyone who understands how the world works knows, energy security is inseparable, even indistinguishable from national security.

Here’s what China knows: China knows no country can have real energy security without a stable, reliable electric grid to power its economy, military, and other elements in any society that are crucial to national security. This really isn’t hard, but it’s a concept that was lost on the Biden administration, and remains lost on the globalist governments in Canada, the UK, Germany, and much of the rest of the western world.

To its credit, the Bloomberg story details the fact that China – and to a smaller extent, India – has not lost sight of this reality. Matter of fact, China and India are building coal plants like it’s 2015 all over again, approving nearly 110 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired capacity in 2024—China with a whopping 94.5 GW and India at 15 GW. That’s the most in a decade, and it’s a loud reminder that energy security trumps climate alarm narratives every time.

China’s coal binge is no surprise to anyone who has been taking an honest view on things. After seeing how power shortages in 2021 and 2022 slowed the country’s manufacturing base, and a major 2023 drought hobbled the country’s massive hydropower fleet, the Xi Jinping government turned, as it has always turned, to building more and more coal—reliable, dispatchable, and immune to weather tantrums.

Sure, China also continues to lead the world in installing intermittent, weather-dependent power generation as it has done for most of the last decade. But unlike the west’s green-obsessed globalist elites and their bureaucrats, they know renewables can’t carry the grid without a fossil fuel backbone.

The numbers are staggering. Coal generates two-thirds of China’s electricity, a percentage which has been barely diminished as it has built out its solar and wind fleets in recent years. Coal also provides 75% of India’s electricity, even though it’s only about half the country’s capacity, and that percentage seems destined to rise.

Globally, IEA says coal investment rose 4% in 2024, almost all thanks to these two giants. Meanwhile, clean energy’s getting $2.2 trillion compared to $1.1 trillion for oil, gas, and coal. What it all means is coal is not going anywhere.

It also means that the vaunted, long-advertised energy transition just isn’t happening. And now, with public attitudes shifting and energy policies in the U.S. and elsewhere moving back to a more fossil fuel-friendly posture, any such transition won’t likely be happening anytime in the near future.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Democrats in the U.S. and leftist politicians around the world chose to back client industries whose “solutions” can’t do the job. Until other, reliable, affordable and truly scalable solutions arise, fossil fuels which the climate narrative says we must all reject will chug right along, continuing to fill the world’s energy security needs as they have done for centuries.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.