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DrJuanZoidberg t1_j0ucvqt wrote

Reply to comment by Kryosite in The IEA says humanity used the greatest amount of coal in 2022 in all of human history, and that this level of consumption will continue until at least 2025. One-third of all global coal goes to generate electricity in China, and India's coal use is growing at 6% per annum. by lughnasadh

I understand the scale difference, I was being pedantic about the point raised that “while China has excellent locations to build solar and hydro-power, those spots are generally in the north and west” and therefore far from the population centres.

Of course China’s energy needs are massive and it will take time to meet them, but presenting long distance between power sources and population centres as a hurdle is ridiculous considering my example with Quebec (which gets 95% of its energy through hydro alone and the rest through wind). Obviously the real hurdle is the sheer scale of what needs to be built since it will take long no matter how many workers you send to those far flung regions, but if it’s still a viable option.

I also never said anything about China being evil. I complimented their capacity to build things considering they have a knack to build skyscrapers and cities figuratively overnight to the point where their speed outruns demand leading to empty skyscrapers.

If anything, I believe in China’s capabilities to completely switch to green more than you

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