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coal plant smoke stacks Coal-fired ability plant nearly Joseph City, Arizona (Photograph by John Fowler, CC BY 2.0)

Editor'due south note: This story was originally published by The Guardian. It appears hither as part of the Climate Desk-bound collaboration.

The number of coal-fired power plants under development around the world vicious last yr, but far too much coal is still being burned and too many new coal-fired power plants are planned for the world to stay within safe temperature limits.

Coal employ appeared to be in long-term turn down before the COVID-19 pandemic, only lockdowns effectually the globe and economic upheaval drove an increase in new coal projects in 2020, peculiarly in China.

Last year, the total coal power capacity in development barbarous sharply once again, by virtually 13 per centum, from 525GW to 457GW, a record low for new plants under development, according to a report from Global Energy Monitor published on Tuesday. The number of countries planning new plants also fell, from 41 at the first of 2021 to 34 countries.

But these encouraging signs were outweighed by a slowdown in older coal-fired power stations being taken out of service. About 25GW of capacity was taken out—roughly equal to the amount of new capacity commissioned in People's republic of china—and the amount of electricity generated from coal rose past 9 percent in 2021 to a record high, more than rebounding from a 4 percent fall in 2020 when COVID kickoff struck.

The authors of the report ended that "coal'due south concluding gasp is non even so in sight", despite countries agreeing at the COP26 UN climate summit final November to a "stage down" of coal. Last year, the International Energy Agency warned that no new exploration of fossil fuels of whatever kind could have place if the world was to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The continuing use of coal comes despite always starker warnings from scientists in the latest cess by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which ended that the world would far exceed the 1.v degrees Celsius limit without rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Flora Champenois of Global Free energy Monitor, one of the report'southward authors, said: "The coal plant pipeline is shrinking, simply there is just no carbon upkeep left to be building new coal plants. We demand to cease now. The latest IPCC report's directive for a fighting chance at a livable climate is clear – stop building new coal plants and retire existing ones in the developed world by 2030, and the rest of the world shortly after."

The war in Ukraine has also taken a toll, pushing upwards gas prices and making coal cheaper by comparison, tempting companies and countries to burn more of the dirtiest fuel. Just Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the Centre for Enquiry on Energy and Clean Air, and some other co-writer of the report, said at that place could as well be an upside in that many countries—particularly in Europe—were looking to reform their free energy systems to advance clean energy and emphasise free energy efficiency.

"It'due south really important to notation how much movement in that location has been towards clean energy and efficiency in response to the invasion," he said.

Weakening demand in China was likewise dampening the prospects of a further coal revival, he added. The country's response to the current resurgence of COVID-xix, and to the uncertain global economic system, would be crucial. "The question is whether China does go for the high-quality economical growth that the leadership has been talking about."

Communist china has deputed more new coal-fired power than the rest of the world combined since the COVID-19 pandemic started, only the Chinese government's plans for increasing clean electricity production past 2025 should mean that less coal is used, even if new coal-fired power plants are built in that location. But the building of such plants must be controlled much more strictly, co-ordinate to the report, or growing over-chapters could hurt the country's transition.

Globally, there are still more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants operating in 79 countries, making a total of well-nigh 2,100 GW of capacity. Only 170 plants are not covered by an eventual phase-out date or carbon-neutrality target, but besides few are scheduled to retire in time to stay within 1.v degrees Celsius.