World Coal Consumption

If China’s coal consumption was flat or declining, then I could see those 50 GW of new capacity as being bargaining chips. However, coal consumption has been going up for the last 6 years. From the same source, below are the EJ of energy from coal, for each year listed.

China (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan)

Year   Coal consumption, EJ
2012     80.72 EJ
2013     82.45
2014     82.10
2015     80.38
2016     78.03
2017     78.90
2018     80.47
2019     82.52
2020     84.25
2021     87.54
2022     88.41

Coal consumption went up throughout the COVID crisis in China. There seems to be a growing demand for that nasty fossil fuel in China, as well as elsewhere in Asia. Indonesia’s coal consumption went up 60%, just in 2022.

  • Pete
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