In its latest projections on global coal demand, issued last month, IEA said that by 2017 coal will come close to surpassing oil as the world's leading energy source, with every region of the world except the United States relying more heavily on the carbon-intensive energy resource.

In fact, the world will burn around 1.2 billion more tons of coal per year in 2017 than it does today -- an amount equal to the current coal consumption of Russia and the United States combined, IEA noted.

In a December commentary for the Huffington Post, IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven described the world's quickening pace of coal consumption as a "troubling paradox" given international efforts to address global climate change, which many scientists link to the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from the burning of coal.

"To the degree that affordable coal has allowed hundreds of millions of people in emerging economies to enjoy the conveniences that the industrialized world began taking for granted long ago, its proliferation is a blessing," she wrote. "Yet for a society increasingly concerned about the amount of carbon it is sending into the atmosphere, the surge in coal burning is not good news."

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500

4 Comments

1. 1. CharlieinNeedham 11:52 PM 1/30/13

   Let me get this straight.
   
   99.8% of China's coal is NOT from the United States.
   
   But way it is reported is the following:
   
   "U.S. coal exports contribute
   
   Although Chinese coal is largely sourced from domestic mines, EIA figures show that U.S. coal shipments to China have dramatically risen in recent years, punctuated by a 107 percent jump from 2011 to 2012. Chinese imports of U.S. coal surged from 4 million tons in 2011 to 8.3 million tons last year, according to the agency."
   
   
   I'm not happy about any coal use in China, but the problem clearly is not mainly because of US coal exports.
   
   Oh, and by the way, "The National Mining Association this week projected that overall U.S. coal exports should total roughly 111 million tons in 2013, down 10 percent from last year."
   
   
   
   
   

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2. 2. thevillagegeek in reply to Postman1 11:53 PM 1/30/13

   The two are not mutually exclusive. China could be leading the world in planning of and/or construction of wind/solar power and still have increasing coal consumption. Your logic fails.

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3. 3. mipakeli 10:05 AM 1/31/13

   It's ridiculous that world is considering CO2 caps when China won't play that game. It's almost now producing half the world's CO2 from coal! That's crazy and they should be fined big time for polluting the entire world with their immense smog clouds.

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4. 4. Postman1 in reply to thevillagegeek 05:37 PM 1/31/13

   @thevillagegeek The logic fail was sault's. When it was pointed out to him that China was increasing coal consumption and building more plants, he used the renewables argument to refute the comments. Therefore, he failed in his logic. All past history now and proven false.

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