CO_2 emissions pose challenge for world coal sector

摘要

Demand for coal is predicted to rise from 5,2bn tonnes in 2003 to nearly 7.3bn tonnes in 2030, says the International Energy Agency in its most recent World Energy Review (2005), published this week. This translates to a 1.4 percent annual rate of increase over that time frame, suggesting that the stately growth in coal use will continue inexorably despite grave concerns about the equally inevitable rise in CO_2 emissions over the nearly three-decade period. Coal's share in world primary energy will slip fractionally in that time from 24 percent in 2003 to 23 percent in 2030, says the report.