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Chart of the Day: As US Coal Consumption Declined, Exports Increased!
Summary
Cheap and abundant natural gas and the push for renewable energy helped reduce coal consumption significantly as shown in Figure (1). The EIA, in a report it released yesterday, predicts the decline in coal use will continue.
Data shows that most of the decline was market-driven by low natural gas prices. As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, this shift reduced CO2 emissions.
However, as US coal consumption declined, coal exports increased and are expected to continue to increase as shown in Figure (1).
EOA’s Main Takeaways
Those who are bragging about the decline in coal use in the US and the resulting reduction in CO2 emissions are ignoring coal exports. From a climate change point of view, sending coal to be burned overseas is a significant problem. Figure (2) is similar to Figure (1) where it shows coal consumption and exports, but the axes start from zero to show the relative amount of increase in exports to the decline in consumption.
The lesson here is clear: those who are calling for phasing out natural gas in the power sector to reduce climate impacts must realize the gas that is not used in the US will be sent overseas!
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