IEA: Global coal use at its highest levels ever in 2023‎

The International Energy Agency said in a report today, Friday, that global coal use is expected to reach a record level in 2023, with demand continuing to be strong in emerging and developing economies.

According to Reuters, the agency added that demand for coal is expected to rise by 1.4% in 2023 to exceed 8.5 billion tons for the first time, as use in India is expected to grow by eight percent and in China by five percent due to the high demand for coal. Electricity and weak hydroelectric power production

However, the report stated that coal use in the European Union and the United States is expected to decline by about 20% each in 2023.

A decline in coal use is not expected until 2026, when a significant increase in renewable energy production capacity in the next three years will help reduce use by 2.3 percent compared to 2023 levels, even in the absence of clean energy policies.

But the report stated that global consumption is expected to remain much higher than eight billion tons in 2026.

He added that the use of coal, which is produced and used without the use of technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, must decrease much faster in order to reach the goals set by the Paris Agreement.

The International Energy Agency said it expects China to record more than half of the global expansion in the use of renewable energy over the next three years, which will lead to a decline in its coal demand in 2024 and stability until 2026.

The report stated that half of the world’s coal use comes from China, so expectations related to coal use will be greatly affected in the coming years by the pace of expansion of clean energy use, weather conditions, and structural transformations in the Chinese economy.

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