The World Coal Association (WCA) has welcomed the publication of the report “The Role of Coal for Energy Security in World Regions” by the Coal Industry Advisory Board to the International Energy Agency (CIAB) on the role of coal in energy security. Significant findings from the report include:
- Coal is widely used across countries and regions to ensure the security of energy supply as measured through affordable energy, broader dependable access for consumers and increased economic competitiveness.
- There is no trade-off between the in-creased use of renewable energies and the use of coal; instead there is a partnership which is needed to meet global, regional and country level energy requirements now and in the future.
- The widespread deployment of clean coal technologies, high efficiency low emissions (HELE) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) is needed to meet a 2 ˚C climate target.
The report considers how the use of coal contributes to affordable energy prices, and allows broader access to electricity and improved industrial competitiveness of economies in various regions. Coal is found to be a key component of a secure energy supply in all the regions/countries covered.
Applying advanced coal-based technologies, like HELE coal plants and CCS technologies, contributes to improving not only the environmental impacts but also leads to increased security of supply. HELE coal technologies provide significant immediate CO2 emission reductions and are a key step on the pathway to CCS.
In order to meet the growing global energy demand and to simultaneously reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, a key recommendation from the report is to increase the support for HELE coal-fired plants and CCS technologies. HELE coal technologies provide a source for significant immediate CO2 emission reduction and are a key first step towards CCS. (WCA/Si.)