Slowing GDP growth, a structural shift away from heavy industry, and more proactive policies on air pollution and clean energy have caused China's coal use to peak. It seems that economic growth has decoupled from growth in coal consumption.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Global declarations on electric vehicles, carbon life cycle and Nash equilibrium
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy Open Access 19 September 2022
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fngeo2777/MediaObjects/41561_2016_Article_BFngeo2777_Fig1_HTML.jpg)
© ALEX SEGRE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fngeo2777/MediaObjects/41561_2016_Article_BFngeo2777_Fig2_HTML.jpg)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fngeo2777/MediaObjects/41561_2016_Article_BFngeo2777_Fig3_HTML.jpg)
References
World Energy Outlook 2015 (International Energy Agency, 2015).
National Bureau of Statistics China Energy Statistical Yearbook 2014 (China Statistics Press, 2015).
Qi, Y., Wu, T., He, J. & King, D. A. Nature Geosci. 6, 507–509 (2013).
Wang, J., Feng, L., Davidsson, S. & Höök, M. Energy 60, 204–214 (2013).
Liu, Z. et al. Nature 524, 335–338 (2015).
Korsbakken, J. I., Peters, G. P. & Andrew, R. M. Nature Clim. Change 6, 687–690 (2016).
Jevons, W. S. The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of Our Coal-Mines (Macmillan & Co., 1865).
Qi, Y. Annual Review of Low-Carbon Development in China (2014) (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2014).
Qi, Y. et al. Annual Review of Low-Carbon Development in China (2015–2016) (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2016).
Du, B. China's Coal Supply and Future Development (National Energy Administration, 2015).
Liu, Z. et al. Nature Clim. Change 6, 201–206 (2016).
China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative Society (World Bank and the Development Research Center of the State Council, 2013).
Qi, Y. & Wu, T. WIREs Clim. Change 4, 301–313 (2013).
Green, F. & Stern, N. Clim. Pol. http://doi.org/bdmm (2016).
Rifkin, J. The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Stern, N. Why Are We Waiting? The Logic, Urgency, and Promise of Tackling Climate Change (MIT Press, 2015).
Sinn, H.-W. Int. Tax Public Finan. 15, 360–394 (2008).
Sinn, H.-W. The Green Paradox: A Supply-Side Approach to Global Warming (MIT Press, 2012).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Qi, Y., Stern, N., Wu, T. et al. China's post-coal growth. Nature Geosci 9, 564–566 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2777
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2777
This article is cited by
-
Global declarations on electric vehicles, carbon life cycle and Nash equilibrium
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy (2023)
-
Challenges and opportunities for carbon neutrality in China
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2021)
-
Analyzing China’s coal-related carbon emissions from economic growth perspective: Through decoupling and decomposition model
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021)
-
Development overview of paste backfill technology in China’s coal mines: a review
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021)
-
Carbon dioxide emissions continue to grow amidst slowly emerging climate policies
Nature Climate Change (2020)