China has extracted a record amount of coal in the past year. A total of 4.5 billion tons of coal was mined, the Chinese statistics office has calculated. That is an increase of 9 percent compared to 2021.
Gas production also increased, by 6.4 percent, to 218 billion cubic meters.
Oil production also increased, but this is not a record. In addition to its own production, China imports plenty of oil and gas. Moreover, China is the world’s largest producer of coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels. Despite a large increase in sustainable energy generation, coal is still widely used in power stations and, for example, in the steel industry.
China emits the highest amount of greenhouse gases of all countries. However, calculated per capita, this is not the case: the emissions caused by the average Chinese are lower than those of the average Dutch person.
Total emissions are still rising in the country, and this is not expected to stop for the time being. China aims for those emissions to peak before 2030 and then decline. China wants to be climate neutral by 2060.