East Asian nations have cranked up their use of coal in energy generation amid an unexpected heat wave that forced them to increase their energy production. South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan are expected to increase coal use in their electricity generation as soaring temperatures increase power use by both households and businesses.
Asia has experienced record-breaking levels of heat for the past several months, with monitoring stations in Myanmar, Thailand, China, Laos and South Asia reporting record heat levels in April. The region has seen such high temperatures that schools were forced to close and authorities in some regions advised residents to stay indoors to avoid the heat. Japanese and Southern Chinese authorities even asked businesses and households to regulate their power use to help protect the electricity grid from the stress caused by overwhelming demand.
This uptick in temperature means that households and businesses are spending much more on air conditioning at a time when the majority of the region was experiencing a cost-of-living crisis.
To shore up their energy supplies amid this heat wave and increasing demand, East Asian countries are turning to coal to supplement their electricity generation. However, with the region already responsible for more than 60% of the world’s global carbon emissions, East Asia is poised to produce even more pollution through its coal-fired power plants.
According to weather forecast data from Refinitiv, areas around Taipei, Tokyo and areas of China will experience temperatures of 4% or higher over long-term averages through June, July and August. In fact, if they remain steady over the coming months, temperatures will be much higher than the already-high levels these nations have seen in recent years.
With temperatures in the region predicted to remain above average for the next few months, the pollution caused by firing up coal power plants again could be significant. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that China, Korea and Japan alone account for close to one-half of the air conditioning units in the entire world, making these countries the top users of air conditioners in Asia.
These units will likely experience significant use in the coming months as people in various East Asian countries struggle to cope with the unbearably high temperatures even if authorities ask them to keep their energy consumption down. The overall result will be an increase in carbon emissions across the region.
China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan all use coal for at least 30% of their electricity, with China relying on “dirty fuel” for close to 60% of its electricity needs. However, with these countries experiencing an unprecedented heat wave amid a global energy crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and the threat of recession, they may have little choice but to rely on coal in the short-term.
These energy demand spikes without a commensurate rise in the supply of greener forms of energy show how hard it will be to pivot away from coal and extraction companies such as Arch Resources Inc. (NYSE: ARCH) in the near to medium term.
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