A new report suggests CO2 emissions in China may have already peaked, and the U.S. Congress passes a bill that maintains several 45Q tax credits and requires more offshore and onshore leases.
It was a relatively quiet sports weekend, other than the 2025 Table Tennis Championship held in Doha, Qatar. I enjoyed watching new stars from Japan, Brazil, Sweden, and Taiwan rising to challenge the sport’s super-power team: China.
Now, let’s look at a couple of energy newsbytes from the past week.
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
The U.S. House of Representatives Passes Bill to Open Lease Sales and Maintain Much of 45Q
Igor Link/ Shutterstock.com
Congress narrowly passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which enables more offshore and onshore oil and gas leases, rolls back tax subsidies for wind and solar energy, and keeps the 45Q tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act unchanged for carbon capture and sequestration projects.
More oil and gas leasing: According to Upstream, the bill directs the Department of the Interior (DoI) to hold more lease sales in federal lands and waters.
The bill requires “at least” 30 lease sales in the U.S. Gulf region over the next 15 years. Two lease sales will be held on 15 August and 15 March each year until 2040. The first will be on 15 August 2025.
For comparison, during the Biden Administration, the DoI held three offshore lease sales in five years.
The bill also directs the DoI to “immediately resume” quarterly onshore lease sales.
In Alaska, the bill orders the DoI to hold four lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and at least six lease sales in the next decade in the Cook Inlet, beginning in March 2026.
The bill and 45Q:
As expected, the bill kept 45Q unchanged, supporting carbon capture and sequestration projects.
Clean vehicles and property for clean vehicle charging
Residential clean energy
The bill phases out tax credits for:
Clean electricity production and investment
Zero-emission nuclear power production
The bill sets a $1 million fee for any gas company applying for import or export permits.
If a company wishes to expedite federal reviews, the bill requires that it pay an additional $10 million.
What they’re saying:
“We applaud the House of Representatives for passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to help restore American energy dominance,” Mike Sommers, president of American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement.
“The bill is a disaster for working Americans. It endangers our clean air and water, will devastate our growing economy and the manufacturing jobs that are powering it, and it opens up our precious lands and water to even more reckless oil and gas drilling,” said Melinda Pierce, the Sierra Club’s legislative director, in a statement.
Next up: The legislation will now move to the Senate for a vote. If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, the House will have to vote again.
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China’s CO2 emissions are down 1.6 percent during 2025 and 1 percent over the past 12 months, according to a recent report from Carbon Brief. Could China’s CO2 emissions have peaked?
The latest:
According to the analysis, “Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time.” It adds that China’s CO2 emissions have been stable or falling for more than a year.
Previous CO2 emissions declines have been due to lower demand, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time the decline is occurring when overall energy demand is rising.
The analysis is based on official and commercial data.
More key findings:
The reduction in China’s Q1 CO2 emissions is due to a 5.8-percent drop in emissions in the power sector. Power sector emissions fell 2 percent YOY from April 2024–March 2025.
Growth in clean power generation has overtaken current and long-term averages for growth in electricity demand, reducing fossil fuel use.
The falling power sector emissions trend is likely to continue throughout 2025.
Background:
China previously pledged to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2060.
Absolute use of oil, gas, and coal continues to grow, although their percentage in overall primary energy consumption has started to decrease.
Over the past decade, China’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and the cement industry have risen nearly 20 percent.
Fast growth in wind, solar, and EVs in China has contributed to overall CO2 emissions reduction.
Slowed demand for construction and cement use might also have contributed to the CO2 emissions decline.
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