IEA's Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2011
The CSIS Energy and National Security Program hosted Didier Houssin, Director for Energy Markets and Security, International Energy Agency (IEA), Laszlo Varro, Head of the Gas, Coal and Power Division, IEA, and Carlos Fernandez Alvarez, Senior Gas Analyst at the Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division, IEA to present the IEA's new annual publication, the Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2011. Guy Caruso, Senior Adviser, CSIS Energy and National Security Program, moderated.
Global demand for coal will continue to expand aggressively over the next five years despite public calls in many countries for reducing reliance on the high-carbon fuel as a primary energy source. Coal is already the single-largest source of electricity generation globally, and the surging power generation in emerging economies is projected to increase coal demand over the next five years.
The report, which presents a comprehensive analysis of recent trends in coal demand, supply and trade, as well as an IEA outlook for coal market fundamentals for the coming five years, serves as a reminder of the significant challenges facing efforts to transform the global energy system to one that is sustainable, secure and low-carbon. The report also raises concerns about the global implications of China’s massive appetite for coal, noting that events and decisions in China could have an outsized effect on coal prices – and thus electricity prices – around the world over the next five years.
