December 21, 2022--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Global demand for coal is expected to exceed 8 billion tonnes in 2022, a record, and should remain at roughly that level through 2025, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France). The report, Coal 2022: Analysis and Forecast to 2025, predicts surging demand in Asia, principally China and India, will offset reductions in Western countries like the U.S.

The report, released December 16, has grim implications for the effort to limit worldwide growth in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and stem global warming, issues that greatly concern the IEA.