GLOBAL COAL CONSUMPTION HIT ALL-TIME HIGH IN 2024

GLOBAL COAL consumption reached a record high last year despite widespread initiatives to switch to renewable energy sources, a leading annual report into climate change has revealed. [1]

A rise in power demand around the planet was cited for the new spike in coal use, even though its percentage share of the world’s wider energy mix dropped.

The World Resources Institute released its findings on October 22nd in the think tank’s yearly State of Climate Action report.

Reflecting on its outcomes, one of the study’s research associates warned that rising coal use around world threatened to thwart attempts to rein in global atmospheric heating. [2]

Efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, as set out in the Paris climate agreement, depend on industrial and residential power usage being based on sustainable energy sources instead of coal, oil and gas.

Clea Schumer, climate policy researcher for the World Resources Institute, said: “The message on this is crystal clear. We simply will not limit warming to 1.5°C if coal use keeps breaking records.

“One of the most concerning findings from our assessment is that for the fifth report in our series in a row, efforts to phase out coal are well off track.”

The same State of Climate Action report cautioned that forests, peatlands, wetlands and oceans were being damaged at a rate that vastly reduced the planet’s capacity to store carbon.

Another senior research associate at World Resources Institute, Sophie Boehm, added: “As this global report card shows, we have barely moved the needle on phasing out coal or halting deforestation, while public finance still props up fossil fuels.

“These actions aren’t optional, they’re the bare minimum needed to combat the climate crisis and protect humanity.”

Since a 190-strong coalition of governments at COP26 committed to reduce coal consumption in 2021 some of the world’s largest nations have ramped up their use of the fossil fuel.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi revelled in his country exceeding 1bn tons of coal production this year and US president Donald Trump has repeatedly stated his support for coal and other fossil fuel usage since taking office for his second term. [3]

The effects of these hugely counter-intuitive developments are yet to be felt in the form of higher greenhouse gas emissions.

World leaders and high-ranking officials will meet in Brazil next month for the Cop30 UN climate summit, to discuss how to keep the world on track to stay within 1.5C of global heating in line with the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

To meet 2030 climate goals, the State of Climate Action report recommends that their phasing out of coal must accelerate tenfold. But as the world enters a new AI-based phase of industrial competition, it is hard to envisage nations agreeing to retire the 360 coal-fired power plants per year that the report says is needed before end of the decade.

However, low-carbon alternatives to coal burned in power stations, steel mills and industrial factories offer end users a truly transitional and sustainable energy source – one which can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and repurposes existing energy infrastructure. [4]

Black pellets, manufactured from cellulosic raw materials through a steam explosion production process, possess up to 87 percent of the energy release of coal when burned – yet produce as little as six percent of coal's carbon footprint across both value chains.

They are well-positioned to replace coal and the energy it produces whiole contributing to resolving the climate crisis.

Power Wood Energy will manufacture its steam-treated black pellets from damaged and diseased timber harvested from forest landscapes devastated by wildfires and beetle infestations.

The company’s executive chairman David Peters said: “The World Resources Institute’s State of Climate Action report, produced by Systems Change Lab, makes for uncomfortable reading and should be another wake-up call for nations and industries intent on using coal as an energy source.

“The report also shows that no industry sector is on track to meet global climate goals and that clean-energy investments are still hugely inadequate to check a rise in average temperature. 

“Now is the moment to invest in clean and sustainable sources of energy, and especially ones that can replace coal. Black wood pellets produced by steam explosion have energy and bulk densities that make them a true and viable alternative to coal, but they release 94% less carbon than coal.

“The over-reliance on coal that is highlighted by The World Resources Institute’s report can be mitigated by investment in the only direct ‘drop in’ replacement for coal – and that is black pellet biofuel.”

[1] Reuters. (2024, December 18). Global coal demand hits new record in 2024 despite clean energy expansion, IEA says. Reuters Energy. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/global-coal-demand-hits-new-record-2024-iea-says-2024-12-18

[2] The Guardian. (2025, October 22). World failing on almost all climate action targets, report finds. The Guardian Environment. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/22/world-failing-on-almost-all-climate-action-targets-wri-report

[3] Bloomberg. (2024, March 31). India hits historic 1 billion ton coal production milestone as demand surges. Bloomberg Markets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-31/india-hits-historic-1-billion-ton-coal-production-milestone

[4] Energy & Fuels. (2016, December 12). Kumar, L., Koukoulas, A. A., Mani, S., & Satyavolu, J. Integrating torrefaction in the wood pellet industry: A critical review. 10070–10083. https://pubs.acs.org/enfuem/article-abstract/31/1/37/753325/Integrating-Torrefaction-in-the-Wood-Pellet?redirectedFrom=fulltext