China and India still rely heavily on coal, climate targets remain ‘very difficult’ to achieve
The Huaneng Huaiyin power station in Huaian, China, on Nov. 12, 2023.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
China and India have not reduced coal generation for electricity, according to a new study, making it harder for Asia’s largest carbon emitters to reach their climate targets.
While both Asian countries have ambitious plans to cut emissions, heavy reliance on coal — the dirtiest fossil fuel — continues to be the most reliable and affordable way of meet rising electricity demand.
Global electricity generation from coal has been consistently rising for the last two decades, nearly doubling from 5,809 terawatt-hours in 2000 to 10,434 TWh in 2023, a new study by energy think tank Ember found. The highest increases came from China (+319 TWh) and India (+100 TWh), the study showed.
According to the IEA, coal remains the biggest energy source for electricity generation, supplying more than one-third of global electricity. It will continue to play a crucial role in industries such as iron and steel until new technologies are available.
“It will be very difficult to meet targets without a rapid face down in coal. It’ll certainly be out of reach,” said Francis Johnson, senior research fellow and climate lead at the Stockholm Environment Institute’s Asia Center.
“We’re not phasing out coal fast enough,” he warned.
China
Asia’s largest economy has two big climate goals: to strive for peak carbon emissions in 2030, and reach carbon neutrality in 2060. Still, reliance on coal has shown no signs of waning.
Electricity demand in the East Asian nation has increased by sevenfold since the beginning of the decade, while coal demand has climbed by more than five times over the same period, Ember’s research showed.
China, the world’s largest coal producer, emitted 5,491 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from electricity generation in 2023. That’s at least three times more than the U.S. (1,570 MtCO2) and India (1,470 MtCO2), data from the study showed.
Just because you cut coal emissions, it doesn’t mean you get away with emissions in the other sectors
Francis Johnson
senior research fellow and climate lead at the Stockholm Environment Institute
However, the country has made notable progress in renewable energy development, leading to a slowdown in the rate of emission increase from an average of 9% annually between 2001 and 2015, to 4.4% annually between 2016 and 2023, the energy think tank said.
“China is very close to peak emissions and the clean energy transition is going extraordinarily fast,” Dave Jones, global insights program director at Ember, told CNBC.
“Even with very high levels of electricity demand growth, it looks like the levels of renewables growth would be enough,” Jones said.
Excavators transfer coal at the coal terminal in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on January 22, 2024.
Str | Afp | Getty Images
Clean electricity contributed to 35% of China’s total electricity generation, the Ember report showed. Hydropower — its second-largest energy source — made up 13% of that mix, while wind and solar combined reached new highs of 16% in 2023.
“Had wind and solar generation not increased since 2015, and demand had instead been met by coal, emissions would have been 20% higher in 2023,” the report highlighted, adding that those two sources can now generate enough electricity to power Japan.
But Stockholm Environment Institute’s Johnson warned China still needs to be less dependent on other forms of fossil fuels.
“Phasing down coal is absolutely necessary, but it’s not sufficient. Just because you cut coal emissions, it doesn’t mean you get away with emissions in the other sectors,” he noted.
India
When India became the world’s most populous country last year, power demand grew by 5.4% compared to 2022. This was more than double the global increase.
The country’s leaders have been optimistic about its path to net zero, making bold claims that 50% of its power generation will come from non-fossil fuel forms of energy by 2030.
Emissions from the power sector are expected to peak around 2030, while total energy-related emissions will reach their highest around 2034, Climate Action Tracker estimated.
Tuticorin Thermal Power Station in Tuticorin, India, on March 21, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
But the Ember study showed that added pressure from droughts pushed the country to generate 78% of its electricity from fossil fuels, where coal made up 75% of that mix.
Like China, India has also made significant strides in other forms of renewable energy.
In 2023, India overtook Japan to become the world’s third largest solar power generator, according to Ember.
Ember found that India’s solar power generation totaled 113 terawatt-hours (TWh) last year, representing a 145% increase since 2019. This ranks behind China (584 TWh) and the U.S. (238 TWh).
“When it comes to the pathway to carbon neutrality for China and India, you would expect the emissions to rise when demand grows. But at some point, the GDP growth needs to decouple with emissions where we need it to first peak, then fall,” Ember’s Asia Programme Director Aditya Lolla told CNBC.
Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers
The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.
Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:
The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”
As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.
Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.
Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:
Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.
Electrek’s Take
In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.
It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?
Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.
Read more: Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
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The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.
Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?
Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.
A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.
Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.
Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.
Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.
The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?
Electrek’s Take
Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.
Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.
Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.
Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.
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