Japan, South Korea stick to coal despite global climate deal

[progree]

Source: Reuters

Less than a week since signing the global climate deal in Paris, Japan and South Korea are pressing ahead with plans to open scores of new coal-fired power plants, casting doubt on the strength of their commitment to cutting CO2 emissions.

Asia's two most developed economies are burning more than ever and plan to add at least 60 new coal-fired power plants over the next 10 years.

Officials at both countries' energy ministries said those plans were unchanged.

Japan, in particular, has been criticized for its lack of ambition - its 18-percent target for emissions cuts from 1990 to 2030 is less than half of Europe's - and questions have been raised about its ability to deliver, since the target relies on atomic energy, which is very unpopular after the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-south-korea-stick-coal-despite-global-climate-031331032.html

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Similar to some earlier reactions:

India, China, Saudi Arabia 'happy' with climate pact, AFP, 12/12/15
http://news.yahoo.com/india-china-saudi-arabia-happy-climate-pact-153738758.html

India says Paris climate deal won't affect plans to double coal output, Reuters 12/14/15
http://news.yahoo.com/india-push-ahead-coal-plans-paris-climate-deal-110724335--finance.html

[cstanleytech]

1. On one hand it sucks but on the other what practical alternatives do they have currently

that could potentially replace the energy that the coal plants would make?
I mean do they have land and the enough sun per year to make solar a good option? I suppose wind might work but still there is the issue of limited land.
Then there is nuclear but the risk for that is high if there is an accident and long term storage spent fuel and waste is a major problem as well.

[davidpdx]

2. Both rely heavily on nuclear power plants.

The other thing they have in common is that both have conservative governments, which tend to not believe in things like...say global warming for instance. I personally dislike both Abe and Park.

[progree]

3. Let's add India to the discussion.

India says Paris climate deal won't affect plans to double coal output, Reuters 12/14/15

India still plans to double coal output by 2020 and rely on the resource for decades afterwards, a senior official said on Monday,

... "The environment is non-negotiable and we are extremely careful about it," Anil Swarup, the top bureaucrat in the coal ministry, told Reuters. &quot But) our dependence on coal will continue. There are no other alternatives available."

While India has plans to add 30 times more solar-powered generation capacity by 2022, there were limitations to clean energy and coal would remain the most efficient energy source for decades, he said.

Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal, said India's contribution to global greenhouse gases emissions was just 2.5 percent with 17 percent of the world's population, while developed countries contributed a fifth of emissions with just 5 percent of the world's population.

"While contributing to (the) growth of renewable energy, energy conservation & efficiency, we'll make sure our development process (does) not get hampered," Goyal said in a post on Twitter.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/india-push-ahead-coal-plans-paris-climate-deal-110724335--finance.html

India currrently has 300 million without electricity (or without power from the grid, not sure which), out of about 1.3 billion population ( 300/1300 = 23% without electricity or grid electricity ) -- both numbers come from a rapid Google search. And I don't think the quality of the power for most of those with electricity is very good, e.g. rotating power outages where many have power for only a few hours a day.

I wonder if China has improved on its agreement a year ago to stop growing emissions by 2030

[progree]

7. India worries it compromised too much on climate treaty, AP, 12/15/15

In the hours after the treaty was finalized in Paris, India's environment minister gave a speech that verged toward complaint, saying that the "actions of developed countries are far below their historical responsibilities and fair share."

More: http://news.yahoo.com/india-worries-compromised-too-much-climate-treaty-102946221.html

Odd. The agreement doesn't require anybody to do anything. Just a non-binding agreement for nations to submit plans with whatever goals each country feels is appropriate.

In contrast, Prime Minister Modi praised the agreement.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/12/14/how-will-the-paris-climate-deal-impact-modis-plan-to-electrify-india/

[progree]

8. India's nuclear solution to global warming is generating huge domestic protests, 12/15/15

In the vicinity of the Kundankulum reactor, the wives of some fishermen, political novices all, on October 18, 2011, started a rolling hunger strike that has continued for more than four years. Farmers, herders and shipwrights have several times laid siege to the 2,500-acre park since the reactor plans were announced in 1987. By 2012, the protests had grown so large and spawned so many others in nearby villages that police lines were reinforced with men bused in from all over India. Some of the police fired into crowds with live rounds on Sept. 9 of that year, killing one, while a second victim, 6 years old, died in the stampede that followed.

The central and state governments have responded brutally. They cut electricity to the most restless districts around the plant in 2011 and 2012, and police officers smashed up homes in the village of Idinthakarai while residents were out at sea.

The police also engaged in a campaign of mass arrests, having issued 227,000 charges against protestors, including those of sedition and assault.
[hr]
More, much more, long long long article: http://news.yahoo.com/indias-nuclear-solution-global-warming-100000370.html

Source: The Center for Public Integrity

A lot of the above was caused by reports of corruption and shoddy workmanship on this Russian built reactor, and concerns about a tsunami doing a disastrous Fukushima-style flooding to this coastal plant, according to the article.

I didn't read the rest of the long long article to find out if this is typical of attitudes to nuclear power in the rest of India.

[Javaman]

4. stepping on the gas toward the cliff. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Does the agreement have any requirements for immediate action?

Or is it a promise to maybe make a plan someday?

[progree]

6. No requirements of any kind, whatsoever. Not immediately, and not ever. nm

[Nihil]

9. It was an agreement in the best traditions of climate agreements throughout history ...

They spat out a lot of words that basically said

"1. We agree to do fuck all except carry on making short-term profit and letting
everyone else worry about the future.
2. We agree that the unsupported opinions of politicians & economists are more
important than years of documented science.
3. We agree to have another junket in a few years time to review the situation.

Signed, the rich bastards from every big country."