Tag: Coal

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Polluting coal users and renewable producers

Coal fired power

The highest coal using countries in the world

  • China, which consumes over half of the global coal demand and produces over 4 billion tonnes of coal per year.
  • India, which consumes about 14% of the global coal demand and produces over 900 million tonnes of coal per year.
  • The United States, which consumes about 9% of the global coal demand and produces over 600 million tonnes of coal per year.
  • Japan, which consumes about 3% of the global coal demand but imports most of its coal.

These countries accounted for about 82% of the global coal production in 2021 according to 2021 data set. China alone produced more than half of the world’s coal, followed by India with nearly 10%.

Global coal use in 2023 hits few high

Global coal use in 2023 has hit a record high, surpassing 8.5 billion tons for the first time, on the back of strong demand in countries like India and China, said IEA. These countries are the world’s largest consumers of the dirtiest fossil fuel, and continued modernization puts their energy consumption on a rapid growth trajectory.

China

China and India’s growing economies will continue to fuel demand for coal even as they set ambitious renewable energy targets, according to experts.

While China is the world’s largest energy consumer, India is ranked third globally, and both countries are the top consumers of coal as they strive to fuel economic growth. 

China’s share of global electricity consumption, 60% of which is coal, is set to jump to one-third by 2025, compared with a quarter in 2015, according to projections by energy watchdog International Energy Agency (IEA).

Global coal usage in 2023 hit a record high, surpassing 8.5 billion tons for the first time, on the back of strong demand in emerging and developing countries such as India and China, IEA noted in a recent report. 

China’s electricity sector has been in the throes of a clean revolution over the past few years, with an almost five-fold growth in wind and solar generation since 2015. As a result, the share of coal generation has fallen by 17 percentage points, from 78% in 2000 to 61% in 2022. 

China has suffered from drought in recent years, which reduced hydroelectric power generation in its southern provinces. To maintain the necessary power output, the country had to turn to coal. 

United States

By contrast, U.S., which is the world’s second largest consumer of coal, has seen a decrease in its usage of the fuel. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the amount of coal that the superpower consumes each day recorded a 62% drop from 2.8 million to 1.1 million tons a day.

75% of India’s power is derived via coal-fired plants. Coal accounts for 61% of China’s power generation, even though the country is recognized as the indisputable leader in renewable energy expansion. It has been adding new projects to the grid almost as fast as the rest of the world combined in 2022 and has ambitions of becoming carbon neutral by 2060.

Annual average capacity additions by country and region, 2016-2023

See IEA report

India’s coal production rose to 893 million tons during the financial year ending March 2023, jumping nearly 15% from a year earlier. China’s raw coal production in 2023 went up by 2.9% compared with the same period in 2022.

There are no signs of a slowdown, with the IEA saying coal consumption in India and Southeast Asia is projected to grow significantly.

Coal won’t go!

But the lack of reliability of renewables means coal has still very much been a critical fallback option for the two countries.

Top five coal producing countries in the world

  • China: 4,126.0 million tonnes
  • India: 762.0 million tonnes
  • Indonesia: 614.0 million tonnes
  • United States: 523.8 million tonnes
  • Australia: 467.1 million tonnes

Five of the Greenest energy producers in the world

  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • Switzerland

The greenest were based on these five criteria: carbon emissions, energy transition, green society, clean innovation, and climate policy.

Top countries by renewable energy production

  • China: 2,271.9 TWh (28.2% of total electricity)
  • United States: 804.8 TWh (20.5% of total electricity)
  • Brazil: 491.9 TWh (83.3% of total electricity)
  • Canada: 433.6 TWh (66.9% of total electricity)
  • India: 303.5 TWh (24.5% of total electricity)

Note: three of the world’s worst offenders of fossil fuel use are also in the top five for energy production by renewables – China, U.S. and India.

So, are things changing slowly?

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Desert location for energy and power generation

Electricity infrastructure

Will these projects alter the world weather pattern?

According to a study, installing large-scale wind and solar farms in the Sahara desert could increase rainfall and vegetation in the region. The researchers simulated the effects of covering 20% of the Sahara with solar panels and wind turbines and found that it would trigger a feedback loop of more monsoon rain and more plant growth.

This could have benefits for the local environment and the global climate, as well as providing a huge amount of clean energy for the world.

Could it also create a detrimental effect to the ecosystem too?

10.5 GW solar energy

The desert project would produce 10.5 GW of solar power and 3 GW of wind power. However, there are also challenges and uncertainties involved, such as the cost, feasibility, and environmental impacts of such a massive undertaking.

The Sahara is a desert on the African continent. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres, it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.

Daily global electricity energy demand

The global electricity energy demand is the amount of electricity that the world needs in a given day. It can be calculated by multiplying the average global electricity demand in GW by 24 hours. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the average global electricity demand in 2020 was about 3 TW or 3 000 GW. This means that the global electricity energy demand in 2020 was about 72 000 GWh or 72 TWh per day. However, this is an average value, and the actual demand may vary depending on the season, time of day, weather, and other factors.

The global electricity energy demand is expected to increase in the future, as population grows and living standards improve. The IEA projects that the average global electricity demand will reach 3.8 TW or 3 800 GW by 2030 and 5.2 TW or 5 200 GW by 2050 in the Announced Pledges Scenario, which reflects the full implementation of net-zero emissions targets by some countries and regions. This implies that the global electricity energy demand will reach 91 200 GWh or 91.2 TWh per day by 2030 and 124 800 GWh or 124.8 TWh per day by 2050.

Energy sources

The sources of electricity generation will also change in the future, as renewable technologies such as solar PV and wind become more dominant and coal use declines. The IEA reports that the main sources of electricity generation in 2020 were coal (34%), natural gas (23%), hydropower (16%), nuclear (10%), wind (8%), solar PV (4%), biofuels and waste (3%), and other renewables (2%).

The researchers simulated the effects of covering 20% of the Sahara with solar panels and wind turbines and found that it would trigger a feedback loop of more monsoon rain and more plant growth.

In the Announced Pledges Scenario, renewables in electricity generation rise from 28% in 2021 to about 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.

Powering the UK from energy created in Morocco