A study published this month by the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed that global demand for coal, and global coal production, broke records in 2024, largely as a result of both supply and demand coming from communist China. [emphasis, links added]
China – the world’s worst polluter on several metrics, including carbon emissions – “consumes 30% more coal than the rest of the world put together,” according to the IEA study.
Its government approved hundreds of new coal power plants in the past two years, suggesting that it will grow its outsized share of the world’s fossil fuel consumption and production of greenhouse gases despite being a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement.
Chinese state media openly boasts of how much coal the country has amassed to meet its skyrocketing demand for electricity and, in winter, heat.
Beijing does so by insisting that the alleged “climate crisis” requires the Western world to dramatically diminish its use of fossil fuels and absolves itself of any responsibility by demanding countries adopt “common but differentiated responsibilities” on pollution.
The IEA is a global intergovernmental organization, initially part of the structure of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). On December 18, it published its annual study of coal consumption and production around the world, titled Coal 2024.
“Global coal use has rebounded strongly after plummeting at the height of the pandemic. It is poised to rise to 8.77 billion tonnes in 2024, a record,” the IEA documented.
“Coal prices today remain 50% higher than the average seen between 2017 and 2019. Coal production reached an all-time high in 2024, though growth is expected to flatten through 2027 as structural changes take hold.”
The study identified China and India as the most prominent nations dramatically increasing coal consumption.
“At the regional level, coal demand in China is expected to grow by 1% in 2024 to reach 4.9 Bt, another record,” the report noted. “India is poised to see demand growth of over 5% to 1.3 Bt, a level that only China has reached previously.”
In contrast, “in the European Union and the United States, coal demand continues to fall, but at a significantly slower pace. It is on track to decline by 12% and 5% respectively this year, compared with 23% and 17% in 2023.”
China’s National Bureau of Statistics corroborated the IEA’s estimate of record-high coal production on December 16, publishing statistics showing that China mined 427.98 million metric tons in November, a record average of 14.27 million tons.
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