Coal being touted in the UK ! I know Obama administration despises coal but this article pushes back. Can these guys turn the ship and find better markets?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that coal will catch up with oil as the world's leading energy source by 2022.
In a report, the Agency says that increased demand from India and China are fuelling the push.
Natural gas offers the best hope of reducing carbon emissions in the short term the report concludes.
It comes as the European Union acknowledged that it has been unable to fund a single project to capture and store CO2.
Economic and population growth in developing countries are spurring the drive for coal says the IEA,
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If no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade”
Maria Van der HoevenIEA
China on top
By 2017 the agency says global coal consumption will stand at 4.32 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, versus 4.4 billion tonnes for oil itself.
"Coal's share of the global energy mix continues to grow each year," says IEA executive director Maria Van der Hoeven. "If no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade."
The report forecasts that by 2014 China will account for more than half the world's coal consumption, while India will overtake the US in second place.
In fact the US is the only region of the world forecast to reduce demand for coal says the report, highlighting the role being played by shale gas in the energy mix.
"The US experience suggests that a more efficient gas market, marked by flexible pricing and fuelled by indigenous unconventional resources that are produced sustainably can reduce coal use, CO2 emissions and consumers' electricity bills without harming energy security" says Ms. Van der Hoeven.