More than 2.2 billion tons in coal-mining capacity is annually under development, according to the San Francisco-based greenie outfit called Global Energy Monitor, which acts as an anti-fossil fuel police unit for the various Malthusian organizations (e.g., IPCC, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Mercator Research Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, WWF). They warn that these mines, if allowed to be opened, would threaten the Paris Agreement targets, and therefore must be shut down.
“The [Global Energy Monitor] report notes that most of this capacity, or some 1.663 billion tons annually, is in the early stages of development and could be canceled, but the rest is already under construction,” according to OilPrice on June 4. “The prospect of a low-carbon transition puts these projects at risk of up to $91 billion in stranded assets,” Global Energy Monitor said. “But if they proceed, without unprecedented cutbacks in global production over the next decade, proposed capacity could boost supply to over four times a 1.5°C-compliant pathway.”
China, of course, is the main target. “Last year, China started more coal plants than the rest of the world retired,” the report says. But there are other targets: “Besides China, Russia, Australia, and India are the countries where more than three-quarters of the new mining capacity will be located. Together, these four will account for 1.75 billion tons in additional annual production capacity. China is the undisputed leader with 452 million tons in capacity under construction, followed by Russia, with 59 million tons under construction, Australia with 31 million tons under construction, and India with 13 million tons in mining capacity under construction.”
