Granite State Times

While the U.S. is moving closer to renewable energy sources, China continues to increase its coal production, which could be detrimental to the efforts of the U.S. to create more green energy.

New Hampshire doesn't have much of an impact as far as solar energy goes, but about 20% of energy production in the state is through renewable resources.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 60% of New Hampshire’s electricity was generated from the state’s only nuclear power plant. About 20% of energy was created by natural gas and 20% through renewable energy. Coal only created a small amount of energy, and since 2001, coal has declined from 25% to less than 1% of the state’s energy production. 

“Renewable resources supply almost one-fifth of New Hampshire's in-state electricity generation, mostly from hydroelectric power and biomass,” a report by EIA stated. “Wind turbines and some small-scale (less than 1-megawatt) solar energy facilities supply the rest. The state has additional renewable energy potential from winds along its Atlantic coastline and northern mountain ridges. New Hampshire also has solar resources that can support utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger) projects.”

The New York Times reported that on Oct. 28, President Joe Biden went to Capitol Hill to lobby his $1.85 trillion climate bill. The plan has had some opposition from Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is hopeful.

“I will tell you there is a will to do it,” Durbin said, according to The New York Times.

There are about $555 billion in climate provisions remaining in the bill. Part of Manchin’s opposition is penalties for not following emissions standards. He insisted this part was removed, but there are still tax incentives that help urge the country to use electric vehicles and incentivized utilities, rather than coal and natural gas.

In contrast to the U.S., CNN reported on Oct. 20 that China’s National Development and Reform Commission has ordered coal mines to produce “as much coal as possible.” This comes after power outages through much of China over the past several weeks. The government has had to ration electricity use. Inner Mongolia is the second-largest producer of coal energy in China, and dozens of mines were ordered by the government to increase production. It is also prohibited from shutting down coal mines in China.

According to an August 2020 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, China emitted the most carbon dioxide of any nation, nearly double that of the U.S.

China does have its hand in solar energy, however, despite ramping up coal production. According to Reuters, in 2019 China was the largest producer of photovoltaic products, which are used to create solar panels worldwide.

The Coalition for Prosperous America published research saying that China “retains a choke hold” on the renewable energy industry.

China has been accused of genocide of the Uyghur population, and Sheffield Hallam University published research linking this mistreatment to the global solar panel supply. The report claims that Uyghurs are forced into labor and are responsible for 45% of the solar-grade poly silicon around the world, which is what 95% of solar modules include.

According to Kenneth Rapoza of Forbes, nearly 80% of solar panels in the U.S. come from China. He said China could be the “Green OPEC” of the world.