China’s significance and impact on the world environment was brought sharply into focus through July, when the country’s state-run media released figures that showed that China’s coal production soared 17.9% in year-over-year. The country’s total energy production was up 9.9%.

According to He Youguo’s paper titled “China’s Coal Demand Outlook for 2020 and Analysis of Coal Supply Capacity”, China is the largest coal consumer in the world, its coal consumption accounting for one fourth of that of the world total. He says half of the rise in world coal consumption is contributed by China.

A new report says coal, which is the number two source of primary energy, is making a come-back. Authors call this phenomenon, the ‘renaissance of coal’ and say that it’s due to the unrelenting demand for energy, large price increases for natural gas, and indecision about nuclear power. It also says that even though the coal renaissance is taking place in many countries, by far the most important driver is escalating demand in China, growth in India and continuing strong demand in the U.S.

According to the World Coal Institute, the largest coal producing countries are not confined to one region – the top five producers are China, the USA, India, Australia and South Africa. In fact, they say that much of global coal production is used in the country in which it is produced. Only about 16% of hard coal production is destined for the international coal market. China, for instance, exports some of its low grade coal and imports high grade coking coal to meet the needs of its steel industry.

Another report, “China Energy Sector Analysis”, says that energy efficiency is the major issue for China’s energy industry. It notes that if national commercial and residential codes are enforced, they could reduce carbon emissions by 49 Million Tons in 2020, displacing the need for 23 large (1,000-megawatt) coal-fired power plants.

But burning coal also results in the production of carbon dioxide, the gas that causes global warming. This year China overtook the U.S. as the world’s top polluter of greenhouse gas. Analysts are now saying that it is increasingly important for China to be looking at renewable energy sources, and that the country has also seen rapid growth in solar cell production. Roughly between 2003 and 2005, the country’s solar cell production went up from 1.07% to 8% with respect to world solar cell production, following only Japan and Europe.