Joseph Fournier: World coal demand growth will set new records in 2024

[Note: Joseph Fournier is a former senior executive in the energy tech world who is now a rancher in Alberta. A Ph.D. in physical chemistry, Fournier remains a keen observer of the energy space who posts on LinkedIn. I obtained his permission to share this excellent analysis with readers here.]

World coal demand growth is again set to break new records in 2024, following a 2% rise in 2023.

2% growth in absolute terms is 175 million tonnes, which of course represents an additional 640 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

We all know that this growth is largely driven by China, India and Indonesia.

China is adding another 1 billion tonnes per year (btpa) of coal mining capacity to its already massive 4 btpa capacity and by 2030, will be mining 2x more coal than the rest of the World combined.

Why does this matter to me?

1. Wind, solar PV and battery enthusiasts call "primary energy" a fictitious concept in view of the explosive growth in these technologies. Seriously, public sector academics are paid to write such science fiction pieces.

2. Canada could entirely shut down its oil & gas sector overnight and within 3-months, CO2 emissions from growth in global coal demand alone, would obliterate any gains in this regard. All pain and no gain.

3. Western nation's rapidly growing trade deficits with Asian countries and China in particular, is driving this massive growth in coal consumption.

4. Punitive regulations and Net Zero ambitions are likewise accelerating the growth of coal consumption in Asia (China) as Western heavy industrial capacity is less "Carbon Intensive". This is especially true in Canada.

5. Half of China's GDP growth rate is fueled by the West's Net Zero obsessions.

6. These nations, led by China, are demanding the West pay climate reparations for its past CO2 emissions, to the tune of $1.3 USD trillion per year.

I do not fault Asia for embracing its massive coal reserves. Unlike North America, it is not gifted with our unfathomably large natural gas and hydroelectric resources.

China's per capita electrical consumption rate is still less than half that of Canada's!

In closing, I will declare that the "Net Zero Emperor is Naked"!

Let us stop fooling ourselves.
[End]

After reading this piece, I remarked that I wish Fournier’s item #2 here could be beaten into the brains of every western policymaker, since it so clearly demonstrates the absolute futility of wasting trillions of dollars on this subsidized, debt-funded energy transition to oblivion on which western nations are embarked.

There is no real energy transition happening today - what we really have is a period of energy innovation and mass expansion of new energy tech, none of which outside of nuclear power represent truly viable or sustainable substitutions for the current, fossil-fuel-dominated energy system.

Further, no energy transition is even possible to achieve unless and until the world’s two most populous nations - China and India - become full participants in this ruinous enterprise. And that’s not likely to happen anytime soon, mainly because the people running those countries are not idiots who have been brainwashed into the global climate cult.

Thanks to Mr. Fournier for this excellent analysis.

That is all.