Britain's history of coal-fired power generation ends. Can my country immediately withdraw from coal-fired power?

The history of world energy development has ushered in a historic moment. Britain, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, recently closed its last coal-fired power plant, ending the country's century-old history of coal-fired power generation. As the first major economy to completely phase out coal power, the UK's abandonment of coal is of great international significance. This means that it is feasible for a large country to operate completely away from coal power generation. But at the same time, it also raises another question: Are there conditions for developing countries, especially big countries like China, to immediately withdraw from coal and electricity?

To answer this question, we must first understand why the UK can bid farewell to coal power. First, the UK's economic growth is gradually decoupling from electricity consumption. Long after the Industrial Revolution, almost all of Britain's electricity was generated by burning coal. It can be said that coal is the cornerstone of the success of the industrial revolution in Britain and Western society. Western countries have used the energy of fossil energy to complete the industrialization process and capital accumulation. Today, due to industrial structural adjustment, economic growth in developed countries has been or is decoupling from energy, and electricity demand has declined. Small pressure on electricity consumption growth provides a good foundation for coal power to withdraw.

Second, rejecting coal does not mean that the UK does not rely on fossil energy. In the 1990s, large-scale development of oil and gas fields in the North Sea resulted in coal being largely replaced by cleaner natural gas. At that time, coal's share of Britain's electricity supply fell from about 65% to about 35%, and a large number of coal mines were closed. Western countries have found that natural gas power units have better regulating performance than coal power, which is enough to support the large-scale development of new energy sources. As gas turbine technology continues to advance, natural gas prices continue to decline, making gas and electricity more economical than coal power for a certain period of time. Since then, with the proposal of green transformation goals, developed countries have accelerated their embrace of natural gas and relied on large-scale natural gas units to ensure the security of power systems.

With the deepening of my country's industrialization and urbanization, residents 'living and electrification levels continue to improve, and there is still room for significant growth in electricity consumption. At the same time, my country's natural gas is highly dependent on foreign countries, and it is unsafe to use natural gas as the main base load and support to regulate the power supply. Although Britain's abandonment of coal has given us hope, we must not copy the UK's transformation path and pace. Too radical withdrawal of coal is not in line with China's national conditions. We must adhere to the basic national conditions of coal-based, promote energy transformation in an orderly manner, and do a good job in clean and efficient use of coal.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the clean and efficient utilization of coal. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to further promote the energy revolution and strengthen clean and efficient use of coal. The "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to improve the clean and efficient utilization mechanism of coal. Clean and efficient utilization of coal is an activity that comprehensively uses advanced technology and management means to control and reduce pollutants and carbon emissions and improve coal utilization efficiency in all aspects of the entire industrial chain of coal development, production, storage and transportation, and use. It is of great significance to fully utilize coal. It is of great significance to ensure the role of ensuring the bottom, promoting the transformation of green and low-carbon energy, and developing new quality productivity.

In September this year, the "Opinions on Strengthening the Clean and Efficient Utilization of Coal" jointly issued by six departments including the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration clearly stated that by 2030, the green and intelligent development capabilities of coal will be significantly enhanced, and the energy consumption intensity of production will gradually decrease. The storage and transportation structure continues to be optimized, the quality of commercial coal has been steadily improved, and the efficiency and cleanliness level of coal use in key areas have been comprehensively improved, which is in line with ecological priority, conservation and intensification, A clean and efficient coal utilization system suitable for green and low-carbon development has been basically completed. This provides a clear roadmap for effectively improving the level of clean and efficient utilization of coal and better supporting and ensuring high-quality development.

In the coal production process, the concept of green development is fully implemented from coal mine design and construction to production. Promote green mining technology, improve the coal mine energy conservation and carbon reduction standard system, promote the application of energy-efficient technologies and equipment, deeply explore the energy conservation potential of production systems, and innovate the circular economy development model of Kuangqu mining areas. Among them, the intelligent development of coal mine safety is the top priority. Not only must new coal mines be built in accordance with intelligent standards, but intelligent transformation of large coal mines and coal mines with severe disasters must also be accelerated. As a result, the energy consumption intensity of coal production will gradually decrease, and the storage and transportation structure will continue to be optimized.

In the coal consumption chain, build a diversified and efficient use system. The use of coal is the ultimate manifestation of clean and efficient utilization. Continue to implement total coal consumption control in key areas for air pollution prevention and control, strengthen comprehensive management of bulk coal, and promote classified utilization of coal by quality. Continue to promote energy-saving and consumption-reduction transformation, heating transformation and flexibility transformation of coal-fired electricity, carry out low-carbon transformation and construction of coal-fired electricity, and improve the efficiency of coal use in key industries. At the same time, we will develop the utilization of coal raw materials in an orderly manner, strengthen the application and innovation of coal-based new materials, and promote the high-end, diversified and low-carbon development of the coal chemical industry.

Strengthening clean and efficient utilization of coal is a long-term and arduous task. With the continuous advancement of science and technology and the continuous improvement of policies, my country's clean and efficient utilization of coal will be further improved, thereby making greater contributions to achieving the "double carbon" goal and promoting high-quality economic development. (Source of this article: Economic Daily Author: Wang Yichen)

Original title: Adhere to orderly advancement of energy transformation