Coal: An energy source for future world needs

Abstract

Since 2004, international hard coal prices have been at rather expensive levels above 60 USD/t. Some argue that these higher prices might indicate the threat of a physical scarcity of fossil fuels - similar to the situation with oil and gas. This is not true. The supply situations with lignite and hard coal appear to be largely not critical. Adjusted to the rise in global coal consumption, which is expected until 2100, nature by and large can meet the world’s coal demand. This is shown for lignite and for hard coal here, differentiated in space and time. The only area of potential concern is Asia (especially China). But today’s and coming eager efforts in China to convert coal resources into reserves will most likely deliver the coal needed for the Chinese market. Up to the year 2100, and from a geoscientific point of view, there will be no bottleneck in coal supplies on this planet. The CO2 emissions correlated with this coal use have to be a considerable concern if mankind wants to stabilize the world’s atmospheric CO2 concentration. A widespread deployment of CCS (carbon capture and storage) technologies is recommended to curtail the future rise in atmospheric CO2.