El increase in technologies and development of renewable energies They make us, little by little, depend less on fossil fuels in many sectors of industry and service. That is why the use of fossil fuels is being reduced in many countries due to the use of these clean alternative energies.
Thanks to this step that is becoming more and more advanced, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a stagnation for the next five years in world demand for coal. Mainly, it is the Asian countries that use coal for fuel and to produce electricity. In the coming years, a decline in coal consumption is expected in Asian countries.
Despite the fact that less and less coal is consumed around the world, its use is still unavoidable. The world depends on coal. The IEA states in the Beijing document that the evolution and use of coal largely depends on demand from China. Today China consumes 50% of global carbon and almost half of all its production. What you have as consequences are the big cities polluted by the excessive use of coal.
The main reasons for the decrease in the use of coal in China and the United States are due to increased energy efficiency and the development of renewable energies. For the first time in this century, the demand for coal fell in 2015. On the other hand, Europe and North America consume half as much coal as in 2000. However, the use of coal increased to account for three-quarters of global consumption in 2015 and, according to the IEA, this trend is set to intensify.
Finally, today, coal is responsible 45% of all global carbon dioxide emissions which cause the greenhouse effect, but it is attractive to countries as it is a relatively affordable and abundant mineral.