China set to drive coal power production to record high weeks after Cop26

Coal-fired electrical power need could surge to a record superior this yr owing to mounting use in China, India and the US, in accordance to a damning new report from the Intercontinental Energy Company (IEA).

The IEA said international electrical power technology from coal was expected to get to ten,350 terawatt-hours in 2021 — a 9pc maximize — driven by a speedy financial recovery that has “pushed up electric power need considerably quicker than lower-carbon materials can maintain up”.

General coal need, together with for industries these kinds of as cement and steel, is expected to increase 6pc this yr. However it will not exceed the record use ranges of 2013 and 2014, it could hit a new all-time superior upcoming yr, the vitality entire body claimed.

The stark figures highlight the issues in international efforts to lower carbon emissions. China, which is accountable for additional than 50 percent the world’s coal electrical power technology, is established to see a 9pc maximize this yr. Era in India is forecast to increase 12pc.

IEA boss Fatih Birol claimed the maximize was “a worrying signal of how considerably off track the world is in its efforts to place emissions into decrease toward web zero.”