The hazards of prediction

While looking up Chinese coal imports I came across an article from 2015 by the Institue for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

India’s New Emissions Target Adds Momentum to Global Energy Transition
https://ieefa.org/indias-new-emissions-target-adds-momentum-…
India last week became the last major economy to file a pollution-control plan in advance of the Paris Climate Conference in December, but one of the most important. Its document carries huge global significance. And while it is a harbinger of things to come it is a measure, too, of which way the wind is blowing, so to speak…

IEEFA forecasts that thermal coal imports by India are likely to decline rapidly over the next few years, and that China’s thermal coal imports, which probably peaked in 2013, will also decline very quickly.

Looking at their graph, coal imports by both China and India were projected to be well below 50 million tons by 2021. A quick reality check: China still imports some 300 million tons per year and India over 250 million tons.

DB2

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The issue is not denying China or India anything.

The heart of it is the US making the major investments to lead in alternative energy sources and then turning around and selling those products globally.

Just being lazy for the US fossil fuel producers is dumb. It does just the opposite of saving the US government/taxpayers money etc…

Looking at their graph, coal imports by both China and India were projected to be well below 50 million tons by 2021. A quick reality check: China still imports some 300 million tons per year and India over 250 million tons.

Which proves the importance of the Paris accords and the need to follow them to the letter

The Captain
a sucker is born every second!

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Looking at their graph, coal imports by both China and India were projected to be well below 50 million tons by 2021. A quick reality check: China still imports some 300 million tons per year and India over 250 million tons.

Which proves the importance of the Paris accords and the need to follow them to the letter

People seem to forget (or not know in the first place) that while fossil fuel consumption has a slower growth rate than renewables, the base number is much larger. The net result is not much change overall.

Global fossil fuel use similar to decade ago in energy mix
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-fossil-f…
The share of fossil fuels in the world’s total energy mix is as high as a decade ago, despite the falling cost of renewables and pressure on governments to act on climate change, a report by green energy policy network REN21 showed on Tuesday…

REN21 said the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix was 80.2% in 2019, compared to 80.3% in 2009, while renewables such as wind and solar made up 11.2% of the energy mix in 2019 and 8.7% in 2009, the report said. The rest of the energy mix comprises traditional biomass, used largely to cook or heat homes in developing countries.

DB2

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Global fossil fuel use similar to decade ago in energy mix

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Not really that similar.

Since the 2014 peak coal consumption, coal has been flat and has not set any new consumption records.
https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/world-coal-co…

Natural gas keeps growing and setting new consumption records every year.
https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/gas

Oil consumption took a deep dive in 2020. It has not recovered to the 2019 peak consumption in 2021. Forecast is that oil will set a new record consumption in 2023.
https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/oil

Jaak

Global fossil fuel use similar to decade ago in energy mix

Not really that similar.

“REN21 said the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix was 80.2% in 2019, compared to 80.3% in 2009”

80.2% looks pretty similar to 80.3%.

Of course, that is a steady percentage of a growing pie. Global fossil fuel consumption was up almost 18% over that period.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-fossil-fuel-consum…

DB2

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Of course, that is a steady percentage of a growing pie. Global fossil fuel consumption was up almost 18% over that period.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-fossil-fuel-consum…

As you mention, that chart only shows fossil fuel consumption. The following link from the International Energy Agency shows World Total Energy Supply, which includes hydro, nuclear, biofuels plus other renewables.

https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-browser?country…

See that tiny yellow sliver which represents wind, solar, etc? I’m supposed to believe those renewable energy sources will become dominant in the next 10 years? Somehow I don’t think so.

Even if we look at Total Energy Supply for the US…
https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-browser?country…

Wind, solar, etc is still a small piece of the total.

  • Pete
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“REN21 said the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix was 80.2% in 2019, compared to 80.3% in 2009”

80.2% looks pretty similar to 80.3%.

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It is OK to cut and paste something you do not understand. I tried explaining the difference to to you. Lumping all fossil fuels into one basket is ignorance and/or politics.

Jaak

See that tiny yellow sliver which represents wind, solar, etc? I’m supposed to believe those renewable energy sources will become dominant in the next 10 years? Somehow I don’t think so.

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Your graph is based on 2019 data and therefore does not show the tremendous gains in hydro and renewables in 2020 and 2021.

Also in 2020 and 2021 many nuclear power plants were permanently shutdown while very few new nuclear plants starting commercial operations. The Vogtle 3&4 reactors delayed again. The new French EPR reactors in Finland and France delayed again. Several old French reactors shutdown for safety inspections in 2021 impact total nuclear generation. The following link showing world total electricity generated by nuclear power shows a steep drop in electricity generated in 2020 and 2021.

https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/WorldStatistics/WorldTrendinElect…

Bottom line: electricity generated by hydro and renewables are accelerating while nuclear generated is declining.

Jaak

I’m supposed to believe those renewable energy sources will become dominant in the next 10 years?

10 not likely. 30 to 50 likely.

The Captain

80.2% looks pretty similar to 80.3%…
Of course, that is a steady percentage of a growing pie. Global fossil fuel consumption was up almost 18% over that period.

It is OK to cut and paste something you do not understand. I tried explaining the difference to to you. Lumping all fossil fuels into one basket is ignorance and/or politics.

There are certainly differences between the various fossil fuels. However, greenhouse gas concentrations are up over those ten years. Each year NOAA calculates something they call the AGGI (annual greenhouse gas index).
https://gml.noaa.gov/aggi/aggi.html
The index, a measure of radiative forcing, went up from 1.27 to 1.45 over those ten years. That increase of 14% was less than the 18% growth in fossil fuel consumption, so that is something.

Getting back to the OP, the predicted massive decreases in coal imports by China and India never happened, and the imports are about an order of magnitude larger than projected.

“The hazards of prediction.”

DB2

Coal power’s sharp rebound is taking it to a new record in 2021
www.iea.org/news/coal-power-s-sharp-rebound-is-taking-it-to-…
The amount of electricity generated worldwide from coal is surging towards a new annual record in 2021, undermining efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially putting global coal demand on course for an all-time high next year, the International Energy Agency said in its latest annual market report.

After falling in 2019 and 2020, global power generation from coal is expected to jump by 9% in 2021 to an all-time high of 10,350 terawatt-hours, according to the IEA’s Coal 2021 report…

Overall coal demand worldwide – including uses beyond power generation, such as cement and steel production – is forecast to grow by 6% in 2021. That increase will not take it above the record levels it reached in 2013 and 2014. But, depending on weather patterns and economic growth, overall coal demand could reach new all-time highs as soon as 2022 and remain at that level for the following two years…

DB2

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Looking at their graph, coal imports by both China and India were projected to be well below 50 million tons by 2021. A quick reality check: China still imports some 300 million tons per year and India over 250 million tons.

It seems I overstated Indian coal imports.

India eyes 1.2 bil mt coal production by 2023-24 to cut imports
www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/coal/…
India aims to increase its domestic coal production to 1.2 billion mt by 2023-24 to reduce imports and bridge the demand-supply gap, according to a coal ministry statement Feb. 9, a near 75% rise from what the country produces currently…

Earlier, state-run Coal India Ltd., or CIL, had set a target to produce 1 billion mt of coal by 2024. Analysts, however, believe the target is ambitious given that the private sector has expressed limited interest in commercial mining auctions so far. However, mining capacities were enhanced after India allowed the sale of additional coal from captive blocks in 2021…

India’s coal demand stood at 905.88 million mt in 2020-21, with domestic supply contributing 690.89 million mt and imports at 214.99 million mt, the ministry data showed.

DB2