Global Coal Demand To Stabilize Through 2023 Despite Growing Renewables Use - IEA

Global Coal Demand to Stabilize Through 2023 Despite Growing Renewables Use - IEA

Global demand for coal is expected to level off and remain stable for the next five years, even as the share of renewables used to make electricity increases, the 30-nation International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted in a report on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) Global demand for coal is expected to level off and remain stable for the next five years, even as the share of renewables used to make electricity increases, the 30-nation International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted in a report on Tuesday.

Air quality and climate policies, coal divestment campaigns, phase-out announcements, the declining costs of renewables and abundant supplies of natural gas are all putting pressure on coal, especially in North America and Europe, the report explained. As a result, coal's contribution to the global energy mix is forecast to decline slightly from 27 percent in 2017 to 25 percent by 2023.

"But coal demand grows across much of Asia due to its affordability and availability," the report said. "India sees the largest increase of any country, although the rate of growth, at 3.9 percent per year, is slowing, dampened by a large-scale expansion of renewables and the use of supercritical technology in new coal power plants."

Significant increases in coal use are also expected in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Pakistan, while coal in China accounts for 14 percent of global Primary energy, the largest in the world, the release said.

The IEA represents 30 member countries and eight association countries, which together account for nearly 75 percent of global energy consumption, according to the agency's website.