Focus on Arts and Ecology

China’s coal consumption rose 0.4% in 2017, marking the first increase in three years according to an annual statistical communique released by the National Bureau of Statistics on February 28. Coal consumption stayed below the 2013 level, which many experts maintain will remain its peak. The rise in consumption is attributed to poor weather conditions for hydropower production and strong economic activity boosting construction and resource consumption. Because overall energy consumption increased, coal’s share of energy consumption actually dropped 1.6% points to 60.4% even as physical consumption increased. Economic growth is projected to cool again in 2018, and coal is expected to decline again accordingly.
 
Read our analysis on chinadialogue.
 
China’s coal production and consumption (2009-2017)