International Energy Agency wrong to forecast coal’s demise

And now, due to the repeal of the Endangerment Finding by the Trump administration on motor vehicles, we can hope that further deregulations will roll out and make coal and other sustainable power cheap and plentiful again;

Tom Harris ——Bio and Archives--May 14, 2026

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Environmentalists would have us believe that coal a dying energy source. But, thankfully for American coal states such as West Virginia and Canadian provinces Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, all of which use millions of tonnes of coal every year to generate electricity, that is not even remotely true. The Kobeissi Letter, an industry-leading commentary on global capital markets, writes that the world is burning more coal now than ever, reaching a record 8.85 billion metric tonnes annual consumption by the end of 2025. Since 2020, annual coal consumption has increased by 1.40 billion tonnes.

Most of this has come from China, of course, which makes up about 55% of global coal consumption (the US makes up about 5% of global consumption). Although the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a decline in demand over the next five years, The Kobeissi Letter more realistically predicts that demand will continue to rise, and points out that “past forecasts of peak coal demand have repeatedly proven wrong.”

The following graph is available on the IEA’s website, illustrating coal consumption (in metric tonnes, Mt) from 2000 to 2022, with estimates for 2024 to 2026, which seem improbable.

Regardless, they write that increased demand for renewables is the primary cause for the estimated decline in coal consumption, and that “Global........

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