The amount of electricity generated from coal is expected to hit an all-time high this year, as electricity demand outpaces low-carbon supply options, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). That means that the world’s climate targets may be getting further out of reach.
Global power generation from coal is expected to jump by 9% in 2021, according to the Paris-based intergovernmental organization’s Coal 2021 report, which was released on Friday. Coal-fired electricity generation accounts for about 30% of global CO2 emissions.
“Coal is the single largest source of global carbon emissions, and this year’s historically high level of coal power generation is a worrying sign of how far off track the world is in its efforts to put emissions into decline towards net zero,” Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, said in a press release.
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The increase is driven by China, India, the U.S. and the E.U. In China, whose power generation accounts for a third of global coal consumption, coal-fired power generation is forecast to grow by 9%. In India, it is expected to grow by 12% in 2021. This takes coal-fired electricity generation to all time-highs in both countries, according to the IEA.
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In the U.S. and the E.U., coal power generation is set to increase by almost 20% this year over 2020, when economies were hit by the pandemic, but the amount of energy generated from coal won’t reach 2019 levels. The report predicts that coal consumption in the U.S. and the E.U. will go back into decline next year as the result of slow electricity demand growth and the roll out of renewable energy.
The IEA report also forecasts that overall global coal demand, including for uses outside of generating electricity, like making cement and steel, will grow by 6% this year and could hit new records in 2022.
Developed countries have used fossil fuels to power their…
Source : time
