Peak coal and China
World coal production is dominated by China. China’s coal production is projected to peak in 2027 with a peak production level of 5.1 billion tons. World (excluding China)’s coal production is projected to peak in 2027 with a peak production level of 4.1 billion tons. …
The BP Statistical Review of World Energy reports China’s coal reserves to be 114.5 billion tons. This is the number that is widely cited by media and used by virtually all international energy institutions as China’s “proved” coal reserves. In fact, the BP number has not been updated since 1992. Given the observed rapid growth of China’s coal production, the reserves number reported by BP is likely to have substantially underestimated China’s remaining recoverable coal resources.
July 4, 2011