Coal Is Still King in Many Places and the Only Thing Allowing Anything Remotely Like An Energy Transition

I’ve published articles by Kennedy Maize here before via Master Resource, which gives me permission to use their material, but Maize has his own site called The Quad Report, which is always worth checking out. He put up a very interesting post a couple of days ago on coal. I am reposting just a part of it, because, after laying out the challenges coal faces in the politically correct West, he gives an excellent summary of why coal is still king and more in many places.

Source: Janbaars60

Here’s what Maize had to say:

But coal around the world isn’t down and out. Much of the developing world, particularly India and China, remain committed to coal. Steelmaking still relies on coking coal for its fundamental processes. Oilprice.com recently reported, “Report upon report sings praises to energy transition efforts that are leading to record wind and solar electricity generation. Outside the spotlight, however, things look very different. There, coal remains king—and this is not about to change anytime soon.”

India’s coal-powered generation fell slightly in August and September. But India’s imports of metallurgical coal surged for the first six months of this year, driven by higher steel production. China’s coal production has been climbing, and coal accounts for 60% of the country’s electric power production. Oilprice.com commented, “Both India and China have stated quite plainly that they will not be following the example of the UK and shutting down any coal power plants in the observable future. Both India and China have officially prioritized energy supply security and affordability over emissions, even as they both pursue a more diverse grid.”

According to the 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy, “In 2023, global coal production reached its highest ever level, beating the previous high set the year before. The Asia Pacific region accounted for nearly 80% of global output with activity concentrated in just four countries: Australia, China, India, and Indonesia (jointly responsible for 97% of the region’s output). China alone was responsible for just over half of total global production.”

On the consumption side, according to the report, “An increase of 1.6% over 2022 was seven times higher than the previous ten-year average growth rate. Whilst China is by far the largest consumer of coal (56% of the world’s total), in 2023 India exceeded the combined consumption of Europe and North America for the first time ever.”

Coal trade is also healthy: “Overall, international coal trade increased by almost 10% in 2023 reaching its highest level since 2018. Indonesia, Australia, and the Russian Federation were jointly responsible for around 70% of total global exports with Indonesia alone accounting for around 40% of that (over a quarter of total global exports)…. Overall, the Asia Pacific region accounted for 82% of global coal imports. Europe’s imports fell to their lowest level since 2000.”

Oilprice.com commented, “Ironically, it is coal power that is essentially fueling the energy transition. Coal power provides the cheap energy that Chinese and other Asian manufacturers of wind and solar components and equipment—not to mention EVs—use to keep their products cheap. Also ironically, the surge in demand for electricity from data centers will quite likely add a boost to coal demand in some parts of the world where natural gas is not as cheap as it is—for now—in the United States.”

Interesting, isn’t it? The one thing making anything remotely approaching an “energy transition” is coal that allows China to make the equipment solar and wind demand as they are foisted on people who want neither.

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