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1. IntroductionCoal is a burnable carbonaceous rock that contains large amounts of carbon. Coal isalso a fossil fuela substance that contains the remains of plants and animals and thatcan be burned to release energy [1]. Coal contains elements such as hydrogen, oxygen,and nitrogen; has various amounts of minerals; and is itself considered to be a mineral

of organic origin.

Scientists believe that during theCarboniferous period (280 to 345 millionyears ago) large amounts of plant life andother organic matter grew in the swampyareas and lagoons that covered much of theearth. As the plants and other life formsdied, they drifted down to the bottom of theswamps, slowly decomposed, and formed peata soggy, sponge like material. The

peat became buried and compressed underthe earth's surfaces over a long period of time. Over millions of years and through theforces of heat and pressure, the compressed peat became coal. The greater the heat andpressure, the harder the coal was that formed.There are two basic ways to mine coal:

1. Surface mining is used when coal is found close to the surface or on hillsides. Itinvolves removing the topsoil and subsoil and setting them aside. Machinessuch as draglines, wheel excavators, and large shovels remove the earth androck and uncover the coal. This removed material is called overburden. Afterthe coal is removed and loaded into trucks, the area is refilled with theoverburden, covered with the soils that were removed, and reseeded. To the

extent possible, the area is restored to its original condition or improved.2. Underground mining is used to extract coal that is deep beneath the surface or inseams exposed on hillsides. It involves drilling two openings called shafts intothe coal bedone to transport miners and equipment, and the other to bringcoal to the surface. Next, the coal is broken into manageable sizes and mined by

conventional mining, or using explosives to break up a coal seam; continuous mining, or using machines with large, rotating cutters that

break into the coal and with arms that scoop the coal onto a built-inconveyor;

longwall mining, or using cutting machines that work along walls ofcoal up to 1,000 feet long to cut coal and drop it onto a conveyor belt.

Coal is classified into four categories or ranks, based on how it responded to increasingheat and pressure over long periods of time and how much carbon it contains: Lignite (soft): This type of coal contains a lot of moisture and ash and breaks aparteasily. Of the four types, lignite has the lowest carbon content and heating value. Alsocalled brown coal, lignite is used mainly at electricity-generating plants.

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Subbituminous (medium-soft): Thisdull black coal has less moisture thanlignite. Subbituminous is generallyused to produce steam for electricitygeneration.

Bituminous (medium-hard): This typeof coal, which contains very littlemoisture, has high heat value. It isused to generate electricity and toproduce coke, a coal residue used inthe steel industry. Bituminous coal is

the most plentiful type.Anthracite (hard): This type of coal has the highest carbon content and the lowestmoisture and ash content. Anthracite burns slowly and makes a good heating fuel forhomes.Coal is primarily used to generate electricity. In addition, manufacturing plants and

industries use coal to make chemicals, cement, paper, ceramics, and metal products.Coal's methanol and ethylene are used to make products such as plastics, medicines,fertilizers and tar. Certain industries consume large amounts of coal. For example,concrete and paper companies burn coal, and the steel industry uses coke and coal by-products to make steel for bridges, buildings, and automobiles. Coal is still used in theiron and steel industry, but the domestic use of coke, a substance made by heating coalto very high temperatures, has decreased because of changes in blast-furnace and steel-making technologies as well as shifts in steel demand. Inexpensive electricity, such asthat generated by coal, means lower operating costs for businesses and forhomeowners, which helps to boost the economy, moderate inflation, and increase coal'scompetitiveness in the marketplace.In compliance with environmental laws, consequences of coal mining:land reclamation,the process of protecting, restoring, and possibly even improving the land before,during, and after surface mining. As coal is removed from one section of a surfacemine, the land at another part is returned, regraded, and replanted. In the end, thismeans that the land is preserved, nature has been protected, water and soil areconserved, and the land can be turned into productive farmland, forests, and lakes.Reclaimed land has been successfully used for wildlife preserves, golf courses,recreational parks, commercial development sites, pastures, and farmlands. Forinstance, if we take the coal producers under consideration they reclaim the abandonedsites, mined earlier in the 20th century, using own funds nowadays.If we do estimation about geographical distribution of coal, there are over 984 billiontonnes of proven coal reserves worldwide. This means that there is enough coal to lastus over 190 years. Coal is located worldwide it can be found on every continent inover 70 countries, with the biggest reserves in the USA, Russia, China and India.Worldwide, compared to all other fossil fuels, coal is the most abundant and widelydistributed across the continents. Estimates of the world's total recoverable reserves ofcoal in 2004 were about 998 billion short tons. The resulting ratio of coal reserves toproduction is approximately 164 years, meaning that at current rates of production (and

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no change in reserves), coal reserves could theoretically last for more than one and one-half centuries[2].The nowadays market situation can be understood from the suggested web sources:www.eia.doe.gov; www.worldenergyoutlook.org; www.energy.er.usgs.gov etc. whichwere analyzed and final results we put into the graphics.

Inevitably, the coal will have to be transported trains, barges, trucks, and conveyorstransport coal. Nearly 60% of all coal is transported by railroad. Barges are used tomove coal along the nation's 25,000 miles of waterways, and trucks and conveyorsmove smaller amounts of coal over shorter distances. There is even a coal slurrypipeline, due to this method, coal is ground to a powder, mixed with water to form aslurry, and pumped through a pipeline.

2. End uses (structure of industrial demand)

Coal has a very long and varied history. Some historians believe that coal was first usedcommercially in China. There are reports that a mine in northeastern China providedcoal for smelting copper and for casting coins around 1000 BC. Coal was used to

produce gas for gas lights in many cities, which was called town gas. This process ofcoal gasification saw the growth in gas lights across metropolitan areas at the beginningof the 19th century, particularly in London. The use of coal gas in street lighting waseventually replaced with the emergence of the modern electric era.Today, however, coal serves different purposes for society. The chief use of coal is nowelectricity generation. Other uses include coking coal for steel manufacturing andindustrial process heating.

Forelectricity generation is used - steam coal, alsoknown as thermal coal. Electricity is produced at power stations and sent along high voltagetransmission lines (see figure ). In fact, energylosses occur during each stage of the electricityproduction process. As a result, only about 30 to 42 per cent of the original energy is converted intoelectricity.

World coal consumption is about 6.2 billion tons annually. Approximately 40% of theworld electricity production uses coal. The total known deposits recoverable by currenttechnologies, including highly polluting, low energy content types of coal (i.e., lignite,bituminous), might be sufficient for 300 years use at current consumption levels.The next end-use of coal is coke. It is derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coalfrom which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven without oxygenat temperatures as high as 1,000 C (1,832 F) so that the fixed carbon and residual ashare fused together. Metallurgic coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent insmelting iron ore in a blast furnace. So, coal is essential for iron and steel production.68% of steel production worldwide comes from iron made in blast furnaces by usingcoal. World crude steel production was 1240 million tonnes in 2006, usingaround 717Mt of coal. As journalist Alexander Eule wrote in Weekday traderhttp://online.barrons.com/article/SB122599942678005735.html?mod=googlenews_barrons : Analysts say that Walter's better-quality coal, who is oneof the nation's leading producers of high-quality metallurgical coal - determined by

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attributes like strength and lower volatility and moisture content - is a significantadvantage in tough times when steel production falls. Steel makers prefer high-qualitycoal and only choose to blend in lower-quality stuff when scarcity forces their hand.Also coal is used as an energy source in cement production. Large amounts of energyare required to produce cement. Kilns(thermally ovens) usually burn coal in the form of

powder and consume around 450g of coal for about 900g of cement produced. Cementis critical to the construction industry mixed with water and gravel it forms concrete,the basic building element in modern society.Coals can also be converted into liquid fuels like gasoline or diesel by several different processes. In the direct liquefaction processes, the coal is either hydrogenated orcarbonized. Alternatively, coal can be converted into a gas first, and then into a liquid,by using the Fischer-Tropsch process. The main users of diesel are rail transport,cargo road transport and agricultural technique. Gasoline is used as fuel for carburetorand fuel injection, as rocket propellant for producing paraffin and also as solvent and ascombustible material.Other important users of coal include alumina refineries, paper manufacturers, and the

chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Several chemical products can be producedfrom the by-products of coal. Refined coal tar is used in the manufacture of chemicals,such as creosote oil, naphthalene, phenol, and benzene. Ammonia gas recovered fromcoke ovens is used to manufacture ammonia salts, nitric acid and agricultural fertilizers.Thousands of different products have coal or coal by-products as components: soap,aspirins, solvents, dyes, plastics and fibres, such as rayon and nylon. Coal is also anessential ingredient in the production of specialist products as activated carbon, used infilters for water and air purification and in kidney dialysis machines; carbon fibre,whichan extremely strong but light weight reinforcement material used in construction,mountain bikes and tennis rackets; silicon metal used to produce silicones and silanes,

which are in turn used to make lubricants, waterrepellents, resins, cosmetics, hair shampoos andtoothpastes.Coal consumption is heavily concentrated in theelectricity generation sector, and significantamounts are also used for steel production. 58 %of the coal consumed worldwide is used forelectricity generation. This is not surprising as power and heat generation account for morethan half of global coal demand Figure.

The metallurgical sector comes next, mainly for the production of pig iron and steel.Power generation accounts for virtually all the projected growth in coal consumptionworldwide. Where coal is used in the industrial, residential, and commercial sectors,other energy sourcesprimarily natural gas - are expected to gain market share. Oneexception is China, where coal continues to be the main fuel in a rapidly growingindustrial sector, reflecting the countrys abundant coal reserves and limited access toalternative sources of energy. Consumption of coking coal is projected to declineslightly in most regions of the world as a result of technological advances insteelmaking, increasing output from electric arc furnaces, and continuing replacementof steel by other materials in end-use applications.

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Electricity demand is characterized by large variations over the day and the week. It isdifficult to predict whether these differences in consumption will grow or decline infuture, but one thing is sure they will not disappear. With current technologies, theeconomic and energy-efficient storage of large amounts of electricity is still achallenge. Technologies are continuously being developed to increase the ways in

which coal can be utilized, to improve the efficiency of coal, and to meet environmentalchallenges - including carbon capture and storage technology.Economical importance:

Coal is mined in 50 countries Coal is the single largest fuel source for the generation of electricity world wide Coal is the safest fossil fuel to transport, store and use Over 23% of primary energy needs world wide are met by coal 38% of global electricity is generated from coal. Australia, Poland, South Africaand China all rely on coal to produce over three quarters of their electricity, Indiaover 60%, and the USA and Germany more than half. 70% of global steel production depends on coal feedstock, with almost 600

million tonnes of coal being used in steel blast furnaces. Further quantities of coalprovide much of the electricity used to power electric arc furnaces to produce thebalance of global steel production. Global hard (black) coal production has grown by almost 50% in the last 25years to 3,639Mt. Top 5 major producers include China 1171Mt, USA 899Mt, India310Mt, Australia 259Mt, and South Africa 225Mt. Brown coal/lignite production totalled 895Mt in 2000, with Germany, Greeceand North Korea among the leading producers and consumers

As our team consists of Angolan and Kazakhstani students,and Kazakhstan is ex formerof the Soviet Union country which has coal reserves as well, so it would be a real caseto take it as an example.Kazakhstan has 71 power plants, including five hydroelectric power stations, giving thecountry an overall installed generating capacity of 17 gigawatts (GW), 80 percent ofwhich are coal fired, and 12 percent of which are hydroelectric. Almost 85 percent ofthe country's power generation comes from coal-fired plants located in the northerncoal producing regions. Kazakhstan's hydroelectric facilities are located primarily alongthe Irtysh River, which flows from China across northeast Kazakhstan.Kazakhstan's largest coal producer, Bogatyr Access Komir, which accounts for roughly35 percent of the country's coal output and is the country's largest exporter to Russia.Russian firms are also stake holders in the Kazakh coal industry and roughly 16 Mmstare transited annually from Kazakhstan northward via rail to power plants into southernRussia.3. Production (structure of supply)

You probably woke up this morning to the sound of alarm, then might be have taken ashower, with water heated by electricity or gas which is also heating your house , thenyou put on clothes, have been processed in factories , powered by electricity-probablygenerated from fossil fuels and then transported by ship , rail or road; you had yourcoffee cup, using water pumped from local suppliers (by electricity), boiled in anelectric kettle. Perhaps, you travel to your working place by car, fuelled at the nearest

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filling station. You are working on your PC, going to restaurants, cinema, listen to themusic and so on, and you can not imagine your daily life without energy (electricity).However, let us identify the main producing countries like: China , Australia , Russia,USA , Canada (see the below table).Top Hard Coal Producers (2007)

PR China 2549Mt Russia 241MtUSA 981Mt Indonesia 231MtIndia 452Mt Poland 90MtAustralia 323Mt Kazakhstan 83MtSouth Africa 244Mt Colombia 72MtAs being students from Kazakhstan we would like to mention about the contain of totalrecoverable coal reserves in Central Asia: approximately 37,500 million short tons;however, most of Kazakhstans reserves are hard coals that total more than 34,000million short tons. The coal deposits are late age and located mainly in the Karagandaand Ekibastuz basins, which produce hard coal. In the Karaganda basin, coking andsteam coals are produced that have sulfur contents ranging from 1.5 to 2.5% and high

ash content (20 to 35%). Coals from the Ekibastuz basin typically have high ash (39%on average) and low sulfur (

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worldwide comes from iron made in blast furnaces which use coal.Top Steel Producers (2007)

PR China 489Mt South Korea 52Mt

Japan 120Mt Germany 49Mt

USA 98Mt Ukraine 43Mt

Russia 72Mt Brazil 34Mt

India 53Mt Italy 32Mt

Steel production in China increased by 15.6% between 2006 and 2007. Chinaaccounted for 36.4% of global steel production in 2007. Steel is 100% recyclable, withsome 450Mt of recycled steel consumed in 2004. The process uses up to 30% recycledsteel (scrap) and around 90-100% is used in EAF production (electric arc furnace).The use of coal in combustion - whether to generate electricity or heat, or for use insteel or cement manufacturing - creates a number of environmental challenges. Theprimary environmental issues relating to the use of coal are: viable, highly effectivetechnologies have been developed to tackle the release of pollutants such as oxides of

sulphur (SOx) and nitrogen (NOx) and particulate and trace elements, such asmercury. More recently, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including carbon dioxide(CO2) and methane (CH4) have become a concern because of their link to climatechange. Climate change is a global challenge and requires a concerted global response.CO2 makes up 80% of anthropogenic (human induced) GHG emissions. Over the lastcentury, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen, in large part driven by fossilfuel use but also because of other factors, such as land-use change. There is growingrecognition that technology developments have to be part of the solution to climatechange. This is particularly true for coal because its use is growing in so many largeeconomies, including the largest and fastest growing countries such as China and India.There are two primary ways of reducing CO2 emissions from coal use: to develop the

efficiency of coal-fired power generation (meaning lower emissions per unit of energyoutput) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which can reduce CO2 emissions to

the atmosphere by 80-90%.CO2 capture is possible from fossil fuel power stations

or from other large CO2 sources, such as the chemical,steel or cement industries or from natural gas production.CO2 can be stored in geological formations such assaline aquifers or expired oil and gas reservoirs.The technologies for geological CCS are all proven andthere are a number of large-scale CCS projects inoperation today. For instance, current projects are

Sleipner in Norway; Weyburn in Canada; in Salah in Algeria. (Since [ ] has shown)One possible incentive currently under debate is whether CCS projects should beincluded under the Kyoto Protocol'sClean Development Mechanism (CDM). TheWorld Coal Institute believes the information is available now to permit CCS to beincluded under the CDM. A decision on this will be made at the next climate changesummit in Poland in December of this year.Also of importance to the coal industry is the inclusion of methane mitigation as anadditional option for reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions. Methane emissions are

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projected to grow over the next few decades, with the economies of countries such asChina, India and Russia becoming increasingly energy intensive. The report suggeststhat methane mitigation through coal mine methane (CMM) and coal bed methane(CBM) technologies is a cost effective method of reducing global GHG emissions, withestimated short term abatement costs of around US$10 per tonne CO2 equivalent. The

report indicates that methane mitigation could make a larger contribution to overallGHG emissions reductions than the efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.

So we understand that success in achieving asustainable developmentsuggest:1. Policy Certainty governments need to provide support in the policy framework

that recognizes the continuing role of coal and the need to work with industry inaccelerating the development and adoption of low emissions coal technologies.

2. Collaborationthe public/private partnership, so every participant has to understandeach other to develop the sustainable energy future. It is clear that neither industrynor government can deliver the technologies required to achieve the emissionsreduction alone.

3. Large-scale Integrated Projects there is a pressing need for significantly more

large-scale, integrated coal-based CCS demonstration projects if commercialinstitutes will be ready is to achieve this goal by 2020.

4. Regulatory & Legal Frameworks a commitment to CCS needs to becomplemented by regulatory and legal frameworks for CO2 storage that provide policy certainty for project activists and address the technical issues anduncertainties associated with projects.

5. Financing the Future actions are needed by governments, industry and financialinstitutions to create a suitable investment framework. The coal industry iscontributing to a sustainable energy future. In addition to supporting specificdemonstration projects, it is actively involved in international initiatives aimed atpushing technologies forward.

In order to meet objectives and criteries of the world wide issue like reducingemissions, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) planned to solicit the financialsupport and participation of international governments in the FutureGen project, sinceby 2020 more than 60% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions are expected to comefrom developing countries.

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FutureGen is a US government project announced by PresidentGeorge W. Bush in 2003; the aim ofthe plan is to get a near zero-emissions coal-fueled power plant to

produce hydrogen and electricitywhile using carbon capture andstorage. In January the 29th, 2008, theDepartment of Energy announced arestructuring of the FutureGen projectdue to rising costs. In June 2008, thegovernment announced a call for proposals to get commercial

involvement. The FutureGen Industrial Alliance is a consortium of 13 power producersand electric utilities from around the world, among them are firms from UK, China,USA, Australia. The estimated gross project cost, including construction and

operations, and excluding offsetting revenue, was about $2 billion. The project wasgoverned by a legally binding cooperative agreement between Department Of Energy(further DOE) and the Alliance. Under the agreement, DOE was to provide 74% ofthe projects cost, with private industry contributing the other 26%. Foreign financialsupport was to offset a portion of DOEs cost-share. As of January 2008, the foreigngovernments of China, India, Australia, South Korea, and Japan had expressed interestin participating and sharing the cost of the project. The FutureGen Alliance indicated asthe host site Illinois state onDecember 18, 2007. Mattoon, IL the site is located in theeastern part of Mattoon township section 8 on 180 hectares of former farm land. Thecarbon sequestration area is about 8,000 feet below the ground. In July 2007, IllinoisPublic Act 095-0018 became law giving the state of Illinois ownership of and liabilityfor the sequestered gases.Coal provides a significant direct contribution to economic development at a locallevel, particularly in developing countries. Large-scale mines are often the biggestsource of income for rural communities:

Providing wages for local people Contributing much of the local economic and social infrastructure roads,

transport, education, water and communications.Coal companies are involved in the local communities in which they operate. Educationand skill development programmes are an essential component of major coaloperations. Improving the education and skill levels of the local community helps toattract further investment thereby sustaining the community after mine closure.The health and welfare of workers is also a priority. Some coal companies operate in

areas facing severe challenges, where they have become closely involved in localprojects aimed at overcoming them. The work of Anglo Coal in South Africa, wherethey are engaging in the fight against HIV/AIDS, is an example of how coal companiesare responding to challenges facing the local communities where they operate. Sadly,there was one fatality at Ingwes Douglas Colliery in South Africa ,and everyone haveto learn from that tragic loss to strengthen our safety and to develop bettermanagements plans, including the use of geographic information systems, publically

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available data, Internet Resources, and other options for obtaining source data toanalyze water and energy management.Management of produced water associated with the production of coal bed methane inthe Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming is a key aspect of the successfuldevelopment of this valuable resource. It is becoming apparent that coal bed methane

development is neither a geologic play nor engineering play, but an environmental play.Managing environmental issues, including how produced water is managed, itinstrumental to successful development. In 2006, the three year work programme wasstarted which is designed to raise water quality in the downstream Ngakawau River tostandards that will reinstate recreational and fisheries values. Site EnvironmentalManagement Plans (SEMPs), developed by operational staff at each site with theguidance of the environmental specialists. SEMPs are site-specific plans which set outthe requirements for design, implementation and monitoring of the measures taken tomanage environmental impacts. They include any regulatory requirements. The SEMPalso provides data for operational controls such as Authorities to Mine. SEMPs are nowin place or in draft for all sites. Reviews under legislation have been conducted using

ISO 14040 standards.China would be the most striking example in a life-cycle assessment (LCA) which has been developed to help compare the economic, environmental and energy (EEE)impacts to convert coal to automotive fuels. This model was used to evaluate the totaleconomic cost to the customer, the effect on the local and global environments, and theenergy efficiencies for each fuel option. It provides a total accounting for each step inthe life cycle process including the mining and transportation of coal, the conversion ofcoal to fuel, fuel distribution, all materials and manufacturing processes used toproduce a vehicle, and vehicle operation over the life of the vehicle. There are sevenfuel scenarios: methanol from coal, byproduct methanol from coal, methanol frommethane, methanol from coke oven gas, gasoline from coal, electricity from coal, andpetroleum to gasoline and diesel. The LCA results for all fuels were compared togasoline.Gasoline and diesel fuels derived from petroleum are the lowest cost options. No singlecoal-derived fuel technology is found to provide the best alternative in terms of all threeaspects of energy, the environment and economics. In the near term, the production ofmethanol from coal and coke oven gas, supplemented by coproduction of methanolfrom the more than 1,000 ammonia plants in China, is attractive on a regional basis.Although the cost of methanol fuel is higher than that of gasoline or diesel, it is themost attractive of the coal-based fuel options at this time. Coal-based methanol fuelscan be made more attractive to the consumer through appropriate subsidies or taxes.The EEE data suggest that electric vehicles, even with advanced nickel metal hydridebatteries, are not presently attractive because of the high vehicle cost, low energyefficiency and high life-cycle emissions of sulfur dioxide and particulate pollutants.

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Market

Coal is a global industry, with coal mined commercially in over 50 countries and coalused in over 70.Is readily available from a wide variety of sources in a well-suppliedworldwide market. Coal can be transported to demand centres quickly, safely and easilyby ship and rail. A large number of suppliers are active in the international coal market,

ensuring competitive behavior and efficient functioning.Coal PricingCoal prices have historically been lower and more stable than oil and gas prices, anddespite the growth of index and derivative based sales in recent years, this has typicallyremained the case.In countries with energy intensive industries, the impact of fuel and electricity priceincreases will be compounded. High prices can lead to a loss of competitive advantageand in prolonged cases, loss of the industry altogether. Countries with access toindigenous energy supplies, or to affordable fuels from a well-supplied world market,can avoid many of these negative impacts, enabling further economic development andgrowth. The U.S., Japan and the euro region will have the first simultaneous recession

in the post-World War II era, the International Monetary Fund said on Nov. 6. Slowereconomic growth or contractions will reduce the need for coal that generates 40 percentof the world's electricity; according to German coal-importer group Verein derKohlenimporteure E.V.As Tim Dudley (a London-based analyst with Arbuthnot Securities Ltd.) reported onNov.18th Coal prices have recently tumbled as fears over global growth haveincreased. As per his words, he expects further declines as pricing power returns tocustomers.balcoal.com/news/coalnews.cfm

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Coal Production

Over 4030 Mt of coal is currently produced a 38% increase over the past 20 years.Coal production has grown fastest in Asia, while Europe has actually seen a decline inproduction. The largest coal producing countries are not confined to one region thetop five producers are China, the USA, India, Australia and South Africa. Much of

global coal production is used in the country in which it was produced; only around18% of hard coal production is destined for the international coal market. Global coalproduction is expected to reach 7 billion tonnes in 2030 with China accounting foraround half the increase over this period. Steam coal production is projected to havereached around 5.2 billion tonnes; coking coal 624 million tonnes; and brown coal 1.2billion tonnes.

Coal Consumption

Coal plays a vital role in power generation and this role is set to continue. Coalcurrently fuels 39% of the worlds electricity and this proportion is expected to remainat similar levels over the next 30 years. Consumption of steam coal is projected to growby 1.5% per year over the period 2002- 2030. Lignite, also used in power generation,will grow by 1% per year. Demand for coking coal in iron and steel production is set to

increase by 0.9% per year over this period.The biggest market for coal is Asia, which currently accounts for 54% of global coalconsumption although China is responsible for a significant proportion of this. Manycountries do not have natural energy resources sufficient to cover their energy needs,and therefore need to import energy to help meet their requirements. Japan, ChineseTaipei and Korea, for example, import significant quantities of steam coal forelectricity generation and coking coal for steel production. It is not just a lack ofindigenous coal supplies that prompts countries to import coal but also the importance

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of obtaining specific types of coal. Major coal producers such as China, the USA andIndia, for example, also import tree quantities of coal for quality and logistical reasons.Coal will continue to play a key role in the worlds energy mix, with demand in certainregions set to grow rapidly. Growth in both the steam and coking coal markets will bestrongest in developing Asian countries, where demand for electricity and the need for

steel in construction, car production, and demands for household appliances willincrease as incomes rise.http://www.worldcoal.org/assets_cm/files/PDF/globalcoalmarket.pdf

Coal Trade

Coal is traded all over the world, with coal shipped huge distances by sea to reachmarkets.Over the last twenty years:

Seaborne trade in steam coal has increased on average by about 7% eachyear

Seaborne coking coal trade has increased by 1.6% a year.

Overall international trade in coal reached 815 Mt in 2006; while this is a significantamount of coal it still only accounts for about 19% of total coal consumed.Transportation costs account for a large share of the total delivered price of coal,therefore international trade in steam coal is effectively divided into two regionalmarkets

The Atlantic market, made up of importing countries in Western Europe,notably the UK, Germany and Spain.

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The Pacific market, which consists of developing and OECD Asianimporters, notably Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei. The Pacific marketcurrently accounts for about 57% of world seaborne steam coal trade.

Australia is the worlds largest coal exporter. It exported over 231Mt of hard coal in

2006, out of its total production of 310Mt.International coking coal trade is limited. Australia is also the largest supplier of cokingcoal, accounting for 55% of world exports. The USA and Canada are significantexporters and China is emerging as an important supplier.Coking coal is more expensive than steam coal, which means that Australia is able toafford the high freight rates involved in exporting coking coal worldwide.

http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=438

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Conclusion.After many years in the shadows, coal has recently come back into fashion owing tothree advantages over oil and gas: lower prices per energy unit, different geopoliticaldistribution of reserves and a higher reserves-to-production ratio. The advances innovel and more environmentally friendly technologies for coal utilisation Clean

Coal Technologies have further increased the interest in coal. The fullimplementation of clean coal technologies will represent a new era in coal use thatmight strengthen its market position in the future , especially if coal remains cheaperthan oil and gas. Coal reserves are large and will be available for the foreseeable futurewithout raising geopolitical or safety issues. Coal is readily available from a widevariety of sources in a well-supplied worldwide market. Coal is an affordable source ofenergy. Coal does not need high pressure pipelines or dedicated supply routes; routesdo not need to be protected at enormous expense. The total known deposits recoverableby current technologies are sufficient for at least 300 years of use .Global economicgrowth, the primary driver of energy demand, is conservatively forecast to average3.2% per annum between 2002 and 2030, with China, India and other Asian countries

expected to grow most quickly. Increasing demand and the shifting geographicallocation of available reserves will result in significant increases in oil and gas trade.Coal can be easily stored at power stations and stocks can be drawn on inemergencies>coal-based power is well-established and reliable;coal-based power is notdependent on the weather and can be used to underpin renewable energy.Finally,integration of economic cash flow models and LCA models can quantify the cost ofreducing the environmental impacts of power generation. The development and use ofclean coal technologies, including carbon capture andstorage, allows us to meet the environmental goals which our societies have set.Theonly issue some countries can face is logistics problems as increasing of demand canresult in supply more vessels , vehicles. The Energy Information Administration (EIA)

evaluated a wide range of trends and issues that could have major implications forenergy markets between today and 2030.And if the each concerned country willcontribute in coal-friendly projects we can reach CO2 free climate change.

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http://www.coal.ca/content/images/stories/documents/wci_coal_secure_energy.pdf

release version of the AEO2008

6.References

1.

2. http://www.eia.doe.gov

3. http://online.barrons.com/article/SB122599942678005735.html?mod=googlenews_barrons

4. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/summary/pdf/execsum_tables.pdf

http://www.coal.ca/content/images/stories/documents/wci_coal_secure_energy.pdfhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/http://online.barrons.com/article/SB122599942678005735.html?mod=googlenews_barronshttp://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/summary/pdf/execsum_tables.pdfhttp://www.coal.ca/content/images/stories/documents/wci_coal_secure_energy.pdfhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/http://online.barrons.com/article/SB122599942678005735.html?mod=googlenews_barronshttp://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/summary/pdf/execsum_tables.pdf