Worldwide Coal Use Set To Hit An All-Time High Due To Energy Crisis
Global coal consumption will reach an all-time record by the end of 2022 as shortages of natural gas have driven up energy prices, forcing countries to burn more coal, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The international community is set to use over 8 billion tons of coal in 2022, representing a 1.2% increase in coal consumption compared to 2021, as countries began using coal as a cheaper alternative to natural gas after prices spikedfollowing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the IEA’s annual coal report which was released Friday. The agency predicts that coal consumption will hover around such levels until 2025 as although coal demand could fall in the West, it remains high in developing Asian nations like China and India.
In 2022, coal-fired power generation is anticipated to reach a new high of over 10.3 terawatt hours, while coal production is anticipated to increase by 5.4% to roughly 8.3 billion tons, also a record high, according to the report. However, the agency does not anticipate that there will be a great deal of future investment in coal export operations as countries continue to transition to clean energy.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has continuously disrupted gas deliveries to Europe, causing climate-focused nations such as Germany to restart coal-fired power plants to avoid running out of electricity. The EU is currently attempting to place a price cap on natural gas to bring down soaring electricity prices as the country begins to face colder temperatures, according to Politico.
India is predicted to experience the biggest increase in coal demand, at 7%, followed by the European Union (EU) at 6% and China at 0.4%. China, India and Indonesia, the world’s top three coal producers, will also all set new production records this year; China is racing to build a series of new emission-heavy coal plants to add a total of 8.63 gigawatts of coal power in the first quarter of 2022 alone, nearly 50% of the capacity approved in the whole of 2021.
The IEA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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We can see in real time the effects of Europe’s decades of “Green New Deal” policies building windmills, buying solar and pushing electric vehicles. They became totally dependent on Russian gas and oil for 40 to 50% of their energy. So now because Putin has castrated NATO, Europe is still having to buy Russian oil and gas and sending billions to Russia while we send endless billions (over 100 billion so far) to a corrupt and decidedly non-democratic Ukraine to fight a proxy war against Putin that we didn’t want, didn’t vote on, can’t win, and was never in our national security interest.
Electricity costs in Europe have risen 1000% in some places since the war began and their inflation is even higher than ours. They are implementing draconian sanctions on their own citizens that will limit thermostat settings, cause brownouts and rolling blackouts and even shutting off hot water in all public places to try and save energy for the coming winter. They are restarting coal fired plants and even clear cutting their forests to provide needed fuel.
What’s even more insane is that Biden and the Democrats just passed a 730 billion dollar Green Energy bill, laughably called the “Inflation Reduction Act” to institute all these proven failed policies here. And then there’s the four or five states that want to ban gas powered cars by 2030. Never mind that most all of the rare earth minerals for car batteries are mined in China or in Africa by essentially child slave labor. Or that almost all of our solar panels come from China. Or that China is the worst polluting country in the world and is building coal fired plants as fast as they can and laughing at our idiocy and how we will continue to make them rich. The Democrats and “Green” ideologues goal is simply to destroy the middle class in America and install the Democrats in power in perpetuity. That’s why all the massive corporations have gone “woke”. The Democrats promise to be “hands off” on their monopolies and supply them all the cheap labor they can dream of through our totally open border. As the middle class further collapses from inflation and ever increasing energy costs from “Green” mandates, Americans will beg for more Government help which always means more government control. Coup complete. Then there will be just two classes of people in the U.S.. The rich “elite” Democrat politicians and their crony capitalist oligarchs and the poor masses that will own nothing. Just like every other Socialist/Communist state in history.