Bob, Yes Greenpeace, " The Degrowth Imperitive " sept.21 2014. I just don't see how we can make assumptions about coal or energy consumption when revisions for China have only been made through 2013.
Re. A switch to grains from meats would free up some food to be sure but it still doesn't address water, heat impacts or fertilizer. The calories we get from shipping fresh fruits and vegetables is IMO an energy hog, a vegan one.
There is 2014, 2015 and 2016 data for Chinese coal production and imports. It's unlike that there are piles of coal somewhere in China that are now being used which would make the production + import numbers significantly lower than the full consumption total.
Moving off meat would free a lot of water. All that plant material consumed by cattle uses water (and ag land) that can go directly to feeding humans.
Shipping fruits and vegetables is a mixed bag. Obviously if the shipping is done by electrified rail and renewable energy inputs there's no appreciable problem. And one study found that flying veg from South America to North America was less carbon intensive than having a local farmer's market operation load up a few crates of veg and drive them 20 miles to market.
I suspect as time goes on we'll see more veg being grown closer to where it is consumed. I won't be at all surprised to see a lot of vertical farming done under LED lights right in the cities where the produce is sold. (I also won't be surprised to see us switch largely to 'factory grown' meat.)
Controlling fertilizer use is improving with no till farming, planting catchment strips of permanent grass, smart amount usage via computer controlled appliers, etc. Lots more needs to be done but we have some solutions.
I don't want to get too deep into the ag issues. They are not foremost for me at this time. I'm more concerned with getting the big carbon producers shut down. Finding replacements for coal plants, gas plants and petroleum fueled vehicles.