China's coal regions push chemicals to dodge climate targets

Chinese coal-producing regions are ramping up coal-to-chemicals as Persian Gulf war disrupts oil supplies, even as the sector generated 54 million tonnes of additional CO2 in the first eight months of 2024 alone. Coal consumption in China's chemicals industry jumped 18 percent year-on-year, undermining national decarbonisation efforts while strengthening energy security through domestic feedstock substitution. The push has policy backing: Beijing promoted "clean" coal use in September 2024, giving air cover to expansion that could reach 1 billion tonnes of annual coal consumption if current capacity is fully utilised. For global climate commitments, this represents a structural challenge as China's coal demand shifts from declining power generation to growing industrial chemistry.