A report released on Friday by International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that if more efforts are not made to shift to a low-carbon economy. Global coal consumption will reach the all time-high in 2022 and remain at high levels in the following several years.
Some nations have switched to considerably less expensive coal this year as a result of high gas prices brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and following supply interruptions.
Moreover, some regions have experienced heat waves and droughts that have increased electricity consumption, decreased hydropower, and resulted in very low nuclear generation, particularly in Europe. Wherein France had to suspend nuclear reactors for maintenance.
In the annual report on coal, the IEA projects that global coal consumption will increase by 1.2% this year, breaking the previous record of 8 billion tonnes established in 2013 and breaking it for the first time.
Therefore, it forecasts that through 2025, coal consumption would remain constant at that level as drops in developed countries are compensated by a persistently high demand in developing Asian nations.
As a result, coal will still be the biggest producer of carbon dioxide emissions in the entire global energy system.
India is predicted to experience the biggest increase in coal demand, with 7%, European Union with 6% & China with 0.4%.
Coal Demand Forecast
Keisuke Sadamori, director of the energy markets & security at the International Energy Agency (IEA), said. That although coal consumption is expected to be the first to fall. The world is “near to a peak in the use of fossil fuels.”
Due to higher gas costs and a stream of Russian gas. More people in Europe are converting from gas to coal, which has increased coal demand.
However, the research predicted that by 2025, European coal demand will be lower than in 2022.
This year, coal-fired energy production is anticipated to reach a new high of over 10.3 terawatt hours.
While coal production is anticipated to increase with 5.4% to roughly 8.3 billion metric tonnes, also a record high.
Production should peak next year and then decline to levels below those of 2022 by 2025.
China, India, and Indonesia, the world’s top three coal producers, will all set new production records this year. But despite high coal prices and favourable margins for coal miners. There is no indication that investment in export-oriented coal projects is rising.
According to the research, this reflects the caution expressed by mining businesses and investors regarding coal’s medium & long-term prospects.