Thursday, 3 September 2026

China's carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2026, with oil consumption plummeting amid the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a Carbon Brief analysis.

The composition of the decline breaks with every previous episode. Carbon Brief said this is the first time reductions in oil consumption have been responsible for a fall in China's CO2 emissions overall, with coal consumption having been the main driver in all earlier cases.

Crude oil processing volumes dropped 11% during the quarter, Carbon Brief reported, and China cut oil imports by 32%. Some of the processing shortfall was absorbed by drawing down oil product inventories, with Sinopec sales down 9%.

Power generation moved the other way. Carbon Brief identified the power sector as the largest source of emissions growth in the quarter, with coal use up 2.4% while gas-fired generation fell 1.2%.

Structural demand destruction sat alongside the crisis-driven cuts. Oil consumption displaced by electric vehicles in China in the first half of 2026 exceeded total oil consumption in the UK over a six-month period, according to Carbon Brief.

Coal demand from chemicals producers also came in below expectations. Carbon Brief said annual growth in coal use for chemicals production slowed to 8%, from 15% in 2025 and 19% in the first quarter, defying expectations of a boom.

Saipem's pipelay vessel Castorone has reached the Southern North Sea to begin work for the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The vessel will lay a 136km pipeline linking industry on Teesside and the Humber to the Endurance storage site beneath the North Sea, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported. That subsea line is the transport spine between emitters onshore and the permanent storage reservoir offshore.

At 325 metres long, Castorone is described by the outlet as one of the world's largest pipelay vessels.

Fuel for the campaign will come substantially from biofuel. Castorone will burn almost 3,000 tonnes of marine biofuel during the offshore work, which Offshore Engineer OEDigital said helps reduce emissions tied to construction activities.

Rich Denny, Managing Director at NEP, called the arrival a significant moment for the East Coast Cluster, for industrial decarbonization and for the UK's journey to net zero.

China's carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2026, according to an analysis published by CleanTechnica.

The decline tracked a sharp contraction in oil demand. CleanTechnica attributed the drop in oil consumption to the strait of Hormuz crisis.

Oil use across the country fell by 9%, with transport oil use down 16%, following disruptions to supply from the Gulf through the strait, per the same analysis.