In a first, India’s coal consumption at 21.93 exajoules (EJ), or roughly 748 million tonnes of coal equivalent (Mtce), in 2023, was higher than the combined usage in North America and Europe. According to the Energy Institute’s statistical review of world energy 2023, North America consumed 8.83 EJ (301 Mtce) coal last year, while the utilisation in Europe hit 8.39 EJ (286 Mtce).

The year 2023 was marked by record global energy consumption, with coal and crude oil pushing fossil fuels and their emissions to record levels.

“Whilst China is by far the largest consumer of coal (it beat its own record set in 2022 and now accounts for 56 per cent of the world’s total consumption), in 2023 India exceeded the combined consumption of Europe and North America for the first time ever,” the review said.

Coal usage

The review pointed out that global coal production reached its highest ever level of 179 EJ, beating the previous high set the year before. Asia Pacific accounted for nearly 80 per cent of global output with activity concentrated in just four countries—Australia, China, India, and Indonesia.

These four countries jointly account for 97 per cent of Asia Pacific’s coal output. Global coal consumption continued to increase and breached 164 EJ for the first time ever. The increase of 1.6 per cent over 2022 was seven times higher than the previous ten-year average growth rate.

Coal consumption in Europe and North America each fell below 10 EJ, their lowest levels since 1965.

One EJ equals 34.12 million tonnes of coal equivalent (Mtce), 23.88 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), 947.8 trillion British thermal units (tBtu) and 277.8 terawatt hours (TWh). One TWh equals 1,000,000 megawatt hours (MWh).

However, India’s per capita energy consumption is way below that in these developed regions, or even the global average.

India’s primary energy consumption per capita stood at 27.3 gigajoule per capita in 2023 (2022: 25.7), compared to 230 gigajoule per capita (2022: 233.8) in North America and Europe’s 115.2 gigajoule per capita (2022: 117.7). The global per capita in 2023 was 77 gigajoule per capita (2022: 76.2).

A decade back, India’s primary energy consumption per capita was 20 gigajoule per capita, against North America’s 244 gigajoule per capita and Europe’s 103.2 gigajoules per capita.

Record demand for coal

Last week, Coal Ministry said that demand for the critical commodity rose by 7.30 per cent on an annual basis so far in the current financial year, which is an all time high record, as India faces its longest spell of heat wave in history driving up demand for electricity.

The consumption by domestic coal based power plants stood at 183.61 million tonnes (MT) during April-June 15, 2024 from 171.15 MT a year-ago, while daily consumption rose to 2.42 MT from 2.25 MT.

The April-June 2024 period has been marked by sweltering temperatures coupled with intense heat waves across north India leading to a higher requirement for cooling, which is pushing up the demand for electricity.

Related Topics