Wood Mackenzie: Carbon Policies Unlikely to Prevent Coal-Fuelled World

Coal will become the main fuel globally by 2020, energy consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie said in a note released on Monday. 

Wood Mackenzie’s President of Global Markets William Durbin said that global government policies to reduce carbon emissions would not prevent a hydrocarbon world, predicting that coal will surpass oil as the dominant fuel later this decade. 

“China's economic growth will continue to be driven by urbanisation and industrialisation as the government seeks to improve housing as well as create economic opportunities… Coal will be used to fuel the growth because, unlike alternatives, it is plentiful and affordable. Consequently, China's demand for coal will almost single-handedly propel the growth of coal as the dominant global fuel,” Durbin said at the World Energy Congress in South Korea. 

Durbin does not see China and India limiting their use of coal, but suggests that China could have cleaner air if current emission control technologies were deployed and used more effectively. 

“If you take China and India out of the equation, what is more surprising is that under current regulations, coal demand in the rest of the world will remain at current levels. Even though natural gas and renewables make up the bulk of incremental power capacity in Europe, the US and other parts of Asia; coal demand will be sustained because of its price competitiveness," Durbin explained.