Friday 16 May 2014

China producing and burning ‘most of the world’s coal’

Coal production and consumption in China rose for the thirteenth consecutive year in 2012, according to a new report.

The nation accounts for 46% of coal production worldwide and 49% of global coal usage – almost as much as the rest of the world combined, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

It added the top ten coal producing countries supplied 90% of the world’s coal in 2012 – but China surpassed the rest.

“China produced nearly four times as much coal as the second-largest producer, the US, which had a 12% share of global production. China has accounted for 69% of the 3.2 billion tonne increase in global coal production over the past ten years”, the EIA stated.

[caption id="attachment_74539" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Source: US EIA[/caption]

In terms of consumption, the top 10 countries used 85% of the world’s coal in the same year, with China leading the table. The US was the next largest, consuming 11% of the world’s total.

China’s coal usage rose by more than 2.3 billion tonnes in the past 10 years – accounting for 83% of the global increase in coal consumption.

Coal accounts for most of China’s energy usage and has maintained around 70% share of the nation’s consumption since at least 1980, the EIA said. In comparison, the fossil fuel was 18% of the energy use in the US and 28% of global energy consumption in 2012.