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This Chart Shows Which Country Consumes the Most Coal

Jan. 30, 2013 4:21pm Becket Adams

You know the old complaint: Global “climate change” (née “global warming,” née “global cooling”) is being caused by the U.S.’ insatiable appetite for fossil fuel-powered energy.

But here’s the thing: As far as coal consumption is concerned, China leads the way. From the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA):

China Is Buying & Consuming More Coal Than Any Other Country

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics.

“Coal consumption in China grew more than 9% in 2011, continuing its upward trend for the 12th consecutive year,” the EIA reports.

“China’s coal use grew by 325 million tons in 2011, accounting for 87% of the 374 million ton global increase in coal use. Of the 2.9 billion tons of global coal demand growth since 2000, China accounted for 2.3 billion tons (82%). China now accounts for 47% of global coal consumption — almost as much as the entire rest of the world combined,” the report adds.

In short, China burns through more coal than any one nation, meaning that if anyone is responsible for global pollution via coal consumption, it’s certainly not the U.S.

But the left’s bogus reasoning for why we should dismantle the U.S. coal industry aside, what’s the explanation behind China’s interest in the fossil fuel?

Simple: It’s cheap.

“Robust coal demand growth in China is the result of a more than 200% increase in Chinese electric generation since 2000, fueled primarily by coal. China’s coal demand growth averaged 9% per year from 2000 to 2010,” the report adds, “more than double the global growth rate of 4% and significantly higher than global growth excluding China, which averaged only 1%.”

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Comments (36)

CunningLawyer
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 12:40am
Our representatives are looking the other way, the question is why?

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Country_of_Arizona
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 9:05pm
On the China coal story, there is more to it then what was written. China and India allow (in addition to this storyline) millions of tons in CO2 to be released into the air because of coal mine fires! Look into that –reason why it’s simple. In the US when a coal mine catches fire they use a foam to end the fire but this renders the mine worthless–so CihComs and Indians wait for them to burn out so the can be reused.
1 http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/11/17/55758/chinas-coal-fires-belch-fumes.html
2 http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/after-burning-for-50-years-chinese-coal-fires-may-finally-be-extinguished.html
3 http://mining.about.com/od/Coal/a/China-Number-1-Coal-Fire-Hotspot.htm
4 http://scienceandtech.cmpdi.co.in/PDF%20Files/Mine%20Fire.pdf

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KingCanon
Posted on January 31, 2013 at 1:51am
This is old news. Years ago we were told if the US stopped using
coal – period – it would make no difference in global air quality at all.

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firefiteco
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 8:46pm
China is a coal bogart !

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firefiteco
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 8:44pm
U S coal could be alot cheaper to produce if it was not for the EPA and other goverment money siphoning tactics.

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riddleman
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 8:35pm
they’ve come a long way since the dung burning days of the cultural revolution. Maybe now is the time to introduce them to mickey mouse and marijuana. al gore could do both, and play dumbo too!

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denkat56
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 7:17pm
Coal mines in china cause all their pollution, inversions. Is Obama the boy king going to make china pay for their carbon footprint, how much do we owe china? Who’s going to make them pay? Maybe our boy king will apologize for it.

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- pavepaws
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 7:30pm
  Send Al Gore to China.
  
  Report this comment
- Al J Zira
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 8:42pm
  I would love to see any agency, be it the UN or IAEA, try and tell China they owe carbon offsets. The will tell you to drop dead just like we should be telling Al Gore. He set up himself and friends to become billionaires off of a lie.
  
  Report this comment
Hausmaus
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 7:17pm
I just received a letter from the government telling me that the Earth is really flat, and the $16.4T dollars we owe is just a figment of our imagination. As I read further into this piece of you know what it also explained that the unemployment rate is really 0%, every available working body in America is working. For America to make the first example by dismantling its entire nuclear forces, scraping every naval vessel, submarines, destroyers, battleships, aircraftcarriers etc…etc…Eraising the Air Force, and the Army completely. Dismantling our entire industrial capacity by closing our entire energy producing apparatus. Encourage people to live in caves, and learn the fine art of producing fire with flint instead of our more convenient ways. By sending us all back a millenium we will accomplish the ultimate sacrifice for mankind, and at the same time flush us all down the toilet. This was actually a dream I had, and woke up with a blood pressure of 198/210, it was horrific!

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taintso
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 6:45pm
And the pressure is for US to curb all coal fired plants while China grossly expands theirs. Are they keeping all the emissions over china? Or are they buying global Carbon Credits from Obama’s and Gore’s Chicago Carbon Exchange?

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 6:37pm
The only people that talk about this stuff are the groupies of death that want to exterminate 75% of the planet to bring it down to 500 million, nevermind that booming populations solve environmental problems because of the increased mental power applied to the conversion of natural resources to productive goods, and of course the silly notion that we have a solar system to explore and populate?

Rembember the Wah Wah. Remember when NBC made fun of Mitt Romney by excluding his comparison of a government regulatory process that should have been as simple as ordering a hamburger at a Wah Wah hamburger joint?

That’s how comfortable the media is with their bias, they don’t even bother hiding it anymore? So what do you think they are doing to young people in school, but holding their hands down this biased road to Wah Wah land? Imagine a world where instead of using heavy equipment to dig a ditch, you force people to use a shovel? That’s what big government and regulations are, using a shovel, wasting resources, making your life even harder?

This post was inspired by Sean Hannity.

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MiCurmudgeon
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:48pm
It would be nice to live in a country with a growing economy. When we are completely broke and no one has a job what can Oblamer say about the fact that the climate of the Earth varies.

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johnpaulkuchtajr
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:45pm
I was just wondering….

When the glaciers drew-back toward the North Pole across North America and carved-out the chain of inland waterways we now call the Great Lakes, what exactly had caused the warming that caused the glaciers to retreat?

Just wondering?

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- helmuit_7
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 6:38pm
  They had bushes back then too (although they were further south), so it was the bush’s fault.
  
  Report this comment
valleyfever
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:36pm
Wonder when Obama is going to tell the Chinese to knock off the coal burning because they are polluting our air?

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jakartaman
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:19pm
We are on the cusp of a ice age.
China is doing the world a favor

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LarryL2
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:07pm
If people understood we need to change and were willing to become the innovators the jobs will be there. The real problem is the attitude that because someone is worse, we shouldn’t do anything at all. How do we lead by doing nothing? Makes no sense.

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- Dan_o
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:48pm
  You can follow a farce if you want. I’ll pass.
  
  Report this comment
Budrow
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:04pm
>>>>>“Robust coal demand growth in China is the result of a more than 200% increase in Chinese electric generation since 2000, fueled primarily by coal. China’s coal demand growth averaged 9% per year from 2000 to 2010,” the report adds, “more than double the global growth rate of 4% and significantly higher than global growth excluding China, which averaged only 1%.”<<<<<

Well of course !!! China's increased consumption of coal is obviously due to China's increase in manufacturing of goods. China's manufacturing has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since the U.S. Government began to shut down the United States of America and allowed all of our manufacturing to be sent to China. Good Job Congress of The United States, GOOD JOB !

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- Dan_o
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:56pm
  They didn’t “allow” them to leave. They regulated them to the point it made sense for them to leave.
  
  Report this comment
am123
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:02pm
Here’s the thing according to Jim Garrow: Since we can’t pay China back the money we owe them, then in lieu of that, one of the marching orders they gave to Obama is they want our coal. Hence, Obama is shutting down our coal plants and is going to let China have the coal.

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- saranda
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 6:48pm
  Our coal plants are shutting and/or converting to nat gas because nat gas is cheaper than coal at present. Nothing to do with obama, just free market principles at work. Come on, as a free market conservative that should be obvious.
  
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- Dan_o
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 12:01am
  You can’t be serious, Saranda. Here’s one of dozens of examples that proves your useful idiot status:
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/us/politics/30coal.html?_r=0
  
  Even the libs at the gray lady report the increase in costly regulations on coal. Do you suppose that has anything to do with costs, hmm?
  
  Report this comment
- saranda
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 11:16am
  Very serious DanO. Nat Gas lives with the same regulatory environment that coal does. Nat gas is cheaper, more efficient and plentiful in north America. You can blame regs, but you can’t expect companies to use a more costly, less efficient alternative to accomodate the coal mining industry. Coal will have its day again, if and when nat gas prices rise.
  
  Report this comment
- Dan_o
  Posted on January 31, 2013 at 5:59pm
  I know I’m wasting my time here, but your statement is false.
  
  http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cost+of+retrofitting+coal+plants
  
  I can only show you the facts. I can’t understand them for you.
  
  Report this comment
Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:54pm
This cannot be. State Capitalism is wonderful. The Central Planners would not put profit over the environment. Would they? This is the obama/reid/pelosi/algore Utopian dream here. You know none of them care about money right? They couldn’t care less. Never mind they all have private jets,

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colascguy
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:37pm
Yet all of the global warming people keep wanting the US to reduce output of CO2. It looks like China is the worlds #1 polluter.

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- Cavallo
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:54pm
  They also go to the bathroom on the street corner. It’s like Detroit.
  
  Report this comment
- JRook
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:10pm
  ok im sure the group here unlike becket understands that oil and natural gas are also fossil fuels. So perhaps a graph displaying utilization of all fossil fuels might be a tad more accurate and revealing.
  
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- kaydeebeau
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 5:48pm
  @JRook – lol – …oh you were serious….bless your heart
  
  Report this comment
Tom K
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:36pm
The U. S. Capitol in Washington, D. C. has a coalfired power plant that is the main heat source for Our Capitol Building. They have been decreasing coal use since 2009 ( No Surprise There ) and used narutal gas some of the time. Obama virtually guranteed that ” Your home utility bill will necessarily increase ” as he kills the coal industry in America. Check the Drudge Report for ths Coal is Heating the U.S. Capitol Story.

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tonypro
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:34pm
….and the surprise here again is what ?????

Must be why our coal industry is suffering, China told barry he better save it for them.

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RoDogg
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:27pm
Buy American……..

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- tonypro
  Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:38pm
  Agreed.
  A concept, sadly many have forgotten.
  I try to look at manufacturing labels on everything I purchase, and it’s a damn shame how many of the products sold in the U.S. are supporting foreign countries instead of our own citizens, industry, and our economy.
  
  Report this comment
The Big Mick
Posted on January 30, 2013 at 4:26pm
Hey GOVERNOR of VA—-SELL the Da mn Mandarins More High Grade VA COAL!

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