Russia Can't Afford To Go Green Anytime Soon
Russia has huge coal reserves and telling them to reduce supplying is not happening anytime soon.
The COP 26 or United Nations Conference of The Parties held in Glasgow recently failed to register the signatures of certain countries. They announced 5 of the top 20 countries agreeing to do more but how can some of the countries reduce when they have so much still to mine? The aim is to reduce the CO2 emissions and thus change an announcement mode to an action mode to actually get started but how much of an impact will it really have.
Coal was a big talking point obviously as I know the South African Government gratefully accepted a deal that will see them phase out coal power stations. The truth is they were on their last legs anyway and why the country is in the middle of a power crisis. They will gladly accept any handouts that will help them build something new. South Africa is the 12th biggest emitter of green house gasses.
Russia was the one in the room obviously everyone wanted to accept the agreement, but knowing full well they can't. How do you tell a country that has 400 billion tons in coal reserves to reduce mining activity. They have enough coal to supply everyone for the next 350 years. They mine in the region of 110 million tons per year with the bulk of it going to the Far East and the remainder going to Europe taking roughly 45%. The Russians will show interest in curbing emissions, but financially they cannot as this is a natural resource that aids their exports.
This is why Russia is so keen on the Northern Sea Route being operational 365 days of the year. The rest of the world China included accepts 2050 as the date for zero emissions and Russia is battling against the clock with what they have to export. Putin and the rest of them cannot wait to tap the oil wells and gas fields quick enough as they have the most to lose. They would love to see the ice melting faster than ever so they can harvest what they have wanted to for so long.
The Arctic region is rich in coal and why companies are opening up new mines as quickly as they can exporting by the Northern Sea Route. China will increase it's usage of coal for power stations which are still being built even though it is the biggest user of renewable energy in the world.
source Whatever anyone says about the Chinese pollution they are at least combatting it with renewables at the same time. How big is these numbers may come as a shock to many as 43% of all electricity in China is now renewable. Since 2015 which is only 6/7 years ago they have doubled their supply from wind ,sun and water totaling over 1 billion Kw's. These numbers are mind blowing compared to what the rest of the world is doing.
So the Chinese basically make what the rest of the world makes together and these so called UN Climate Control Summits are meant to be taken seriously? I am not saying the Chinese are saints as far from it as they are also the biggest culprits when it comes to pollution. Russia is number 5 on the list of polluters.
If the world really wants to solve it's greenhouse and Co2 emission problems then they need to resolve Russia having so much coal to offload. They will increase production over the next 20 years ramping up to clear what they can before the 2050 deadline. Sometimes deadlines can be dangerous as this is going to create more pollution before it gets any better.
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