China leads escalation of coal consumption

High prices and environmental impact fail to stop coal use growing faster than other traditional energy sources

Terry Macalister
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 June 2009 14.05 BST

Coal consumption is continuing to grow more quickly than other traditional sources despite high prices and the dangerous impact it will have on carbon emissions, new statistics released by oil giant BP show.
China, which has been trumpeting its new wind and solar goals in recent days, led the way with a near 7% increase in the amount of coal it burned during 2008 despite average prices rising 73% to $150 (£129) per tonne. This accounts for 43% of global coal use.
Worldwide coal consumption rose by 3.1% to 3.3bn tonnes of oil equivalent last year while gas use rose by 2.5% and oil use fell very slightly, according to the BP statistical review of world energy.
"For a sixth consecutive year, coal was the fastest-growing fuel - with obvious implications for global carbon dioxide emissions," said Tony Hayward , the BP chief executive.
Crude consumption dropped 0.6% to 81.8m barrels a day last year but prices of crude have soared in 2009 to more than $70 per barrel amid expectations that demand will pick up as a result of a bounceback in economic activity. Hayward said he could see prices rising to $90 while Alexei Miller, chairman of Russia's Gazprom, predicted they could go as high as $250.
Despite the 2008 rise in coal consumption, the BP data showed growth in the use of the fuel continued to decline compared with 2007 when it had risen by 5% and five years ago when it had gone up by 8%.
Coal consumption in the European Union fell by 5.4% to 301m tonnes in 2008, pushed lower by rising carbon emissions prices and a drop in industrial production caused by recession.
The BP statistics show global wind grew by 30% and solar capacity rose 70% in 2008 but the oil company says this is coming from a very low base and still accounts for a relatively tiny part of total world energy consumption – 1.5% of electricity generation.
The growing use of coal will alarm environmentalists and increase the calls for companies and governments to speed up trials on "clean coal" technology and the use of carbon capture and storage.
China has promised to increase its use of renewables: Zhang Xiaoqiang, the vice chairman of the China's national development and reform commission, says the country may produce as much as 20% of all energy needs from wind and solar by 2020.
Hayward said the current price range for oil was convenient because it would support investment in new supply without destroying demand. "There is a rational argument to say that somewhere between $60 to $90 a barrel is the right sort of level," he said.