A decline in fuel use in China’s industrial sector has led to a 3.1% decline in carbon dioxide emissions in the third quarter of the year, the Finnish climate outlet Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has reported, as cited by Reuters.
The lower emissions from the world’s largest generator of CO2 resulted from a 4% drop in crude oil consumption, CREA said, adding that fuel use in transport dropped even more markedly, by 9% in the three-month period.
Coal consumption in China also declined in the third quarter of the year, by 3.3%, while wind and solar curtailment—or waste—fell, too. “The sharp decline in China’s CO2 emissions extends a ‘flat or falling’ trend that began in March 2024 and has now lasted more than two years,” CREA analysts wrote.
Separately, CREA reported China had reduced its oil and gas imports amid the war in the Middle East, relying more on alternative energy such as wind and solar to fill the gap. Thanks to this, China saved $9.1 billion from oil and gas imports between March and August, according to the Finnish outlet’s estimates.
China has relied on its huge crude oil inventories since the Iran war hiked oil prices to above $100 per barrel. The world’s biggest crude importer has drawn from its 1.3-billion-barrel stash for most of the months after March as it slashed imports amid soaring prices.
The stock draws, and the reduced imports in the spring and summer, have even kept benchmark crude oil prices in check despite the major disruption to flows from the Middle East, as China’s crude supply management was one of the key buffers the market has had since the war began.
The CREA data suggests that despite that generous oil inventory level, China cut its energy use substantially enough to affect CO2 emissions.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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