• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 43 mins GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 1 hour How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 3 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 5 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 16 hours Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 4 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)
Obscure Coal Stock Is World's Best 2023 IPO

Obscure Coal Stock Is World's Best 2023 IPO

The world’s best-performing IPO stock…

China Returns To Coal As Hydropower Falters

China Returns To Coal As Hydropower Falters

Low rainfall in the top…

Why The World Just Can’t Kick Coal

Why The World Just Can’t Kick Coal

Despite a decline in US…

Matt Smith

Matt Smith

Taking a voyage across the world of energy with ClipperData’s Director of Commodity Research. Follow on Twitter @ClipperData, @mattvsmith01

More Info

Premium Content

Coal Use Falling, Proof of Progress to Low-Carbon Future

Although it is easy to get caught up in the vastness of the volume of fossil fuels we continue to consume, we are increasingly being presented with positives as we move – albeit slowly – along a path toward a lower carbon-emitting future. So here are a few hat-tips towards said precedents of progress from recent days…from China coal to California cool.

China's Coal Imports

What first ignited this latest random walk was an article about how Chinese coal imports are cooling. As economic growth slows in China, it tag-teams with public anger over air pollution to put pressure on coal demand. The government is seeking to reduce the country’s energy intensity – a.k.a. the amount of energy used per unit of economic output – with lower consumption being the low-hanging fruit of solutions. This is being reflected in the expectation for lower coal imports going forward (see at right).

Related article: China’s Plan to Reduce Coal-Fired Electricity Disastrous for Global Climate

Nevertheless, China is not only the largest global producer of coal, but its coal consumption outweighs that of every other nation in the world…..combined. Quite a feat. All the while, the entire growth in incremental coal consumption for the past five years has come from China and India (India a little, China a lot – see below), while the rest of the world has seen coal demand peter off.

The vehemence in this pace of growth has led the IEA to project that coal consumption will challenge oil as the top global energy source by 2017. From this point, however, its reign will wane as an increasing emphasis is placed on other more clean-burning fuels.

World Coal Consumption

And flipping to the other side of the coin, we are seeing signs of material growth coming through in renewable generation here in the US. According to the EIA, California saw a record 26% of its power generation met from renewable sources in May. So while we may still be seeing coal account for 40% of power generation on a national scale, there are some states making strides toward a more renewable future:

Daily Generation from Renewable Sources

Related article: Endgame? New EPA Regulations Threaten U.S. Coal Industry

As for the breakout of the renewable generation on that record day, it is detailed below. A combination of factors have led to this bullishly green scenario: an aggressive state renewable portfolio standard, federal tax credits, grants, and a statewide cap-and-trade program have all played their parts, while mother nature also helped….it was a a particularly windy spring day:

24 Hour Renewable Productionen

ADVERTISEMENT

So despite the rumors of the demise of King Coal being somewhat premature, there are signs of its weakening grip of power in the largest energy-consuming nations in the world. And just as we know all markets are interrelated, it should come as no surprise that US coal exports are expected to drop 8.5% versus last year…as Chinese imports cool. Something to keep an eye on as we approach peak coal in 2017.

By. Matt Smith


Download The Free Oilprice App Today

Back to homepage





Leave a comment
  • Shizel on October 04 2013 said:
    substituting coal with fracked gas, which ignores methane leaks, that are stronger than previously thought, according to the new IPCC report, does not constitute greeness in any way, shape or form.
  • Energy Burrito on October 04 2013 said:
    I am not saying that natural gas is the solution, I am making the point that it is relatively greener, as illustrated by the drop in US emissions as coal's share of power generation has fallen - http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/a-20-year-low-in-u-s-carbon-emissions/?_r=0
  • Freude Bud on October 07 2013 said:
    Chinese total consumption is up though, so what difference does it make if imports are down.

Leave a comment




EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News