World Coal Association president Kiribati Anote Tong said that the most effective way to fulfill energy requirements is to cut CO2 emissions through widening the deployment of all low emission technologies.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) global electricity generated from coal is expected to grow by around 33% in 2040, and the bans that are being currently imposed are not likely to affect the demand for coal.
Tong added that the advantage of coal is that it is affordable, and it is capable of providing reliable electricity to people in Asian countries.
Tong said: "High efficiency low emissions coal technologies provide significant and immediate CO2 reductions and are a key step on the pathway to CCS.
"Raising the average efficiency of the global coal fleet from the current 33% to 40% would save 2 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions – equivalent to India’s annual CO2 emissions or running the Kyoto Protocol three times over.
"Not only do HELE technologies significantly reduce CO2 emissions, they also all but eliminate other emissions that historically have caused concerns about air quality.
