Fifteen mines will be reopened to meet the country’s electricity demand.

(Illustration) (AFP / GREG BAKER)

China has given permission to reopen coal mines for a year as the country demands a power surge.

The catastrophic weather has tested the power grid, leading to massive support for high-temperature air conditioning (especially energy-intensive), and the resumption of operations in the world’s second-largest economy. In this context, the powerful Chinese planning agency gave the green light on Wednesday to resume 15 mines.

Carbon Neutrality Target by 2060

Located in Inner Mongolia (north) and Xinjiang (northwest), it produces about 44 million tons of coal a year, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. Authorities last week approved the reopening of 38 coal mines in Inner Mongolia. By the end of 2020, China had to ration its electricity during the coal shortage.

Despite the winter temperatures, millions of Chinese faced power cuts determined by the authorities.

In early December, Hunan (central) ordered the lighting of buildings for hours a day and limited heating in recreational areas.

China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is the world’s largest investor in new energy sources, and Beijing has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. . This system sets up the pollution ceiling for businesses for the first time. Observers are skeptical about the impact of this new system on the low cost of the right to pollution.