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hatrack

(61,190 posts)
Wed Dec 18, 2024, 07:09 AM Wednesday

Coal Use Will Hit New Global High Of 8.8 Billion Tons In 2024. It Will Also Stay There For Years To Come.

The world’s coal use is expected to reach a fresh high of 8.7bn tonnes this year, and remain at near-record levels for years as a result of a global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There has been record production and trade of coal and power generation from coal since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine inflated global gas market prices, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA said the coal rebound, after a slump during the global Covid pandemic, means consumption of the fossil fuel is now on track to rise to a new peak of 8.77bn tonnes by the end of the year – and could remain at near-record levels until 2027. The Paris-based agency blamed power plants for the growing use of coal over the last year, particularly in China which consumes 30% more of the polluting fuel than the rest of the world put together.

In developed economies such as the US and the European Union coal power generation has already passed its peak, the IEA said, and is forecast to fall by 5% and 12% respectively this year.

EDIT

Coal demand in China is expected to grow by 1% in 2024 to reach 4.9bn tonnes, which is another record, according to the IEA. India is expected to see demand grow by more than 5% to 1.3bn tonnes, a level previously reached only by China. The IEA said that the forecast boom in renewable energy over the coming years is expected to keep a cap on coal use for the next three years, even as demand for electricity is expected to surge in developing countries, before demand for the fossil fuel begins to fall by the end of the decade, the report said.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/18/coal-use-to-reach-new-peak-and-remain-at-near-record-levels-for-years

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Coal Use Will Hit New Global High Of 8.8 Billion Tons In 2024. It Will Also Stay There For Years To Come. (Original Post) hatrack Wednesday OP
There has been a lot of misrepresentations that the decline of coal... NNadir Wednesday #1
From the article... Think. Again. Wednesday #2

NNadir

(34,839 posts)
1. There has been a lot of misrepresentations that the decline of coal...
Wed Dec 18, 2024, 08:16 AM
Wednesday

...use was owing to so called "renewable energy." Everytime I read of a coal plant closing, the reason given was thus.

The reality was that gas was the real reason. In the period between 2022 and 2023, the use of coal grew by 5 Exajoules, solar and wind by 2 Exajoules according to the IEA.

Because after a coal plant goes off line because wind and solar are temporarily available, as almost all are Rankine plants, coal has to be burned without generating power until the steam comes up. The intermittently thus makes things worse for the use of coal to maintain reliability.

It's long past time to stop kidding ourselves about the viability of wind and solar without fossil fuels. Germany is the poster boy for the case.

Think. Again.

(19,027 posts)
2. From the article...
Wed Dec 18, 2024, 08:24 AM
Wednesday

" The IEA said that the forecast boom in renewable energy over the coming years is expected to keep a cap on coal use for the next three years, even as demand for electricity is expected to surge in developing countries, before demand for the fossil fuel begins to fall by the end of the decade, the report said. "

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