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Canada has an emphasis on minimizing their carbon footprint. Recently they committed to $20 million for the construction and distribution of small modular nuclear power plants. These single, small, modular power plants would be able to produce up to 300MWe (megawatt of electric capacity). For reference, that would be enough to power 150K to 200K homes. The benefit of these units would certainly be the transportation flexibility for more isolated communities with minimal waste.

India has announced plans to auction off 41 coal mines which would put an end to 4 decades of state-controlled coal mining. The Indian government hopes the privatization of coal mining will solve a fuel shortage that is threatening the country. India has felt the economic toll steaming from the COVID-19 pandemic and they are hoping the auctions will also help aid the economic struggles.

Over the past 18 months the coal-fired capacity outside of China has shrunk, but China continues to drastically increase the amount of coal-fired power plants, according to a study from Global Energy Monitor. China grew their coal-fired plants by 42.9 gigawatts (GW), while the rest of the world saw a decrease of 8.1 GW, averaging out to a net growth of 34.9 GW globally. While the country is a clean energy leader, the amount of coal usage has yet to slow. According to Global Energy Monitor, this large growth of coal is not compatible with the Paris Agreement’s plan to keep global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.