Coal burning is still China's main source of energy. (Photo : Getty Images)
According to Greenpeace, China is not slowing down on coal burning. The environmental group revealed that the country has already produced more than 70 gigawatts of coal energy.
There are 200 gigawatts to be produced by coal plants that are under construction.
Greenpeace also said that China is producing an excess of energy, which is expected to amount to 1 trillion yuan by 2020.
The International Energy Agency agrees. In their World Energy Investment report, the IEA stated, "It is becoming apparent that China has overinvested in new fossil fuel capacity."
"Measures permitting renewables and the pricing of coal-fired power could make it more difficult for generators to recover the capital costs of coal plants," the agency added.
There are efforts to convert to gasification or conversion of coal emissions to synthetic natural gas. However, the process leads to the production of more carbon dioxide.
Gasification was initiated by the China Kingho Energy Group, the largest private company on energy. They began the process in a power plant in northern Xinjiang in 2013.
Greenpeace then reported that the company intended to establish 50 more gasification facilities. The environmentalist group criticized China for permitting a huge amount of deadly carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere.
Gan Yiwei, a climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, spoke against coal-to-gas plants. He said, "With the economy and market conditions, we really don't think this is a good choice."
Later on, the National Energy Administration stopped the construction of the gasification facilities.
Li Junfeng, an adviser to the Chinese government on climate change, said, "It is extremely irrational to develop a coal-to-gas technology. Coal-to-gas conversion is unfit to become a national strategy."
In spite of the challenges facing China's energy sector, President Xi Jinping said that China will remain committed to protecting the environment. During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he said that the climate change "is a responsibility we must shoulder for the sake of our future generations."
