Coal news and updates

China Syndrome? U.S. reductions in coal use are offset by large increases in Asia

China’s demand increased 4.6% in 2022, which amounted to 200 million tons. India increased its consumption by 9%, or 97 million tons.

Efforts to dramatically reduce coal use in America are simply being offset by an energy-hungry Asia, and confounding the goals of climate change activists.

Global coal demand actually reached a record high in 2022, rising 4% to 8.4 billion tons, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual report released Friday.

The IEA report attributes much of that increase to developing countries in Asia: China’s demand increased 4.6% in 2022, which amounted to 200 million tons while India increased its consumption by 9%, or 97 million tons.

Indonesia, which is trying to corner the global market on energy-intensive nickel smelting, increased its coal use by 49 million tons, a 32% increase.

Despite its commitment to driving down carbon dioxide emissions, Europe increased its coal use by 4.3%, which the IEA report notes was less than was expected.

“Despite subdued hydropower and nuclear electricity generation in some European countries, a weak economy and mild winter in Europe restrained the impact of natural gas price spikes, which encouraged some switching to coal,” the report said.

In the United States, coal use peaked in 2007. In 2022, U.S. coal demand fell by 8%. This 39 million ton decrease was a greater drop than any other market.

The report predicts that coal demand will fall in 2023 in almost all advanced economies. The U.S. and European Union will see the biggest drops, according to the report. Consumption will also fall in Korea, Japan, Canada and Australia.