I’ll believe that coal use is increasing after I do more research. The Chinese say they are cutting back on coal use because the air pollution is so bad. There may be some short term increase, but I think that solar will pick up especially in the tropics. Gas and oil are really cheap right now too.
I had to search the web, as last year China was on pace to build a new coal plant every ten days for the next 8 years or something.
But now I see that they ARE closing up some of their facilities. And it doesn’t look like just for short-term weather conditions either.
A friend said the smoky skies of the American West from all the forest fires remind him of China!
Global coal demand to reach 9 billion tonnes per year by 2019
http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2014/december/global-coal-demand-to-reach-9-billion-tonnes-per-year-by-2019.html
Global demand for coal over the next five years will continue marching higher, breaking the 9-billion-tonne level by 2019, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its annual Medium-Term Coal Market Report released today. The report notes that despite China’s efforts to moderate its coal consumption, it will still account for three-fifths of demand growth during the outlook period. Moreover, China will be joined by India, ASEAN countries and other countries in Asia as the main engines of growth in coal consumption, offsetting declines in Europe and the United States.