Key Highlights
- In advanced economies, demand peaked roughly two decades ago and has since fallen by nearly half.
- For a long time, China absorbed much of that decline, expanding coal use even as the West moved away.
- But that phase, too, is ending, said an ET report. China’s coal-fired power generation fell by about 1% last year, despite a 5% rise in electricity demand.
- Even extreme cold in December — typically a strong month for fossil fuel generation — failed to reverse the trend.
- Coal and other fossil fuels produced the lowest December output since 2022.
