Coal, The Chinese, And John Kerry -- April 21, 2021

Today's theme: coal. 

Demand: global CO2 emissions (FWIW) are set to jump by 1.5 gigatonnes in 2021 -- led by a rebound in coal demand mainly from the power sector. It would be the second largest rise in emissions ever (FWIW). This economic recovery is anything but sustainable for our climate. Yawn.

• I picture Greta looking up how to spell gigatonnes in Swedish.

China: Chinese coal consumption to hit record high in 2021. Great news: at tome point the country will transition to natural gas. And, here.

• John Kerry: the Chinese are doing a great job with efforts to curb CO2 emissions.
• "I forget which" Kennedy: our grandchildren will never see snow again
• George Bush I: "no new taxes, read my lips"

Re-posting from yesterday.

Earth Day:

April 20, 2021. Three days of scheduled activities and Dionysian festivals begin today. Will lead off with Greta testifying before Congress. 

And, then, of course, the elephant in the room: coal. 

• global CO2 emissions are set to jump by 1.5 gigatonnes in 2021 -- led by a reboune in coal demand mainly from the power sector. Link here.
• India is the big story this week, re: coal. Previously posted. 
• India says it will use super-dooper ultra-clean critically clean coal to minimize emissions. I can't make this stuff up.
• this will be the second largest rise in emissions ever -- I guess -- except during the age of dinosaurs
• by the way, as CO2 levels increase, the effect of warming exponentially falls off -- obscure little factoid; if I find the source again, I will link it -- if I understand it correctly, the theory is that increasing atmospheric CO2 leads to warming, but the rate of increase actually declines as the concentration increases; not unlike a lot of things we see in biology; 
• the fact that Chinese coal demand is still increasing, rather than having peaked nearly a decade ago, puts into perspective Beijing's climate change challenge (and its 2060 net zero ambition)
• John Kerry: the Chinese are doing really well when it comes to talking about climate change;
• oh, by the way, Chinese oil demand continues to increase, also -- link here;

The Anthesteria festival of Dionysus, one of many, like our present day Earth Day celebration, was also three days, but took place a bit earlier, at the end of February. Earth Day activists moved the celebration to a more spring-friendly date so we could enjoy warmer weather in which to celebrate. 

The Greeks were looking forward to a good grape-growing season, and, of course, Earth Day participants are appeasing the climate gods. Or something like that.