Coal Consumption, Production and Reserves

Coal is one of the major sources of energy in the orld. Efforts have been undertaken to maintain a proper balance of coal consumption, prouction and reserves around the globe. Studies have reveled the fact that there is abundant resource of coal in the world to met future demand. Morover, existing coal reserves also allow for increased consumption of coal. While some experts view this as a positive aspect, that will lead to substituting the use of crude oil and natural gas with coal, others are of the view that increased consumption of coal may have significant negative impacts on global environment.

Coal consumption in the world has increased over the years. In 2006, there was a 4.5% increase in global consumption of coal. However the increase in consumtion has not ben uniform throughout the world and some regions have consumed more coal than the others. The increase in consumption of coal in the developing countries has been much higher than that in the developed nations.

According to reports based on EIA, the total consumption of coal by the industrially developed nations was around 2000 million tons in 1990 while that of the developing countries was a a little less than 2000 tons. The report forecasts that by the year 2020, the consumption of the developing countries is expected to increase to nearly 4000 million tons, while that of the developed nations is expected to remain fairly constant near the 2000 million tons mark.

Accordin to reports of 2006, the Asia-Paciic region had the highest consumtion of coal amounting to 1800 MTOE (Million Tons Oil Equivalent). North America had a consumtion of around 600 MTOE while Europe and Eurasia combined had a consumtion of around 550 MTOE. The consumption of coal in Middle East and African countries combined was close to 100 MTOE and that in South America was less than 50 MTOE.