On the other hand, if the industry scraps all of its smaller and older plants, Credit Suisse estimates, steam coal demand would drop by 15% to 30%, or as much as 324 million tons a year, while gas demand would increase 8% to 16%, or as much as 3 trillion cubic feet a year.
FORBES: Frack Gas Not Likely To Displace King Coal, Study Suggests
The agency also suggested that high coal prices combined with a drop in natural gas prices saw nations replace coal with less polluting gas-powered electricity generation.
German sources attribute a 400, 000-tonne drop in coal production in May 1943 to the damage caused.
The precipitous drop in coal prices last year as the world economy swooned has delayed some projects.
However, these figures are somewhat distorted by a drop in coal shipments, which contributed 44% of total rail shipments last year, as coal demand has been impacted by a switch to natural gas for electric power generation.
During the energy crisis of the late 1970s the government financed research into catalysts for coal gasification, only to drop the projects after oil prices fell and natural gas was deregulated.
Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a shocking drop in power sector coal consumption in the first quarter of 2012.
FORBES: The Direct Costs of Energy: Why Solar Will Continue To Lag Hydro And Nukes
Peabody has been calling for the coal supercycle but has seen its stock drop more than 27% over the last year.
FORBES: I Like Coal: Peabody Ultra-Bullish On Coal As Natural Gas Prices Double
Part of the problem is weakening growth in exports, driven largely by a recent drop in the price of coal and other commodities that Indonesia sells overseas.
Based on the pace of coal mining in the first six months of the year, 2012 production is on track to drop even lower to 1.015 billion tons for the full year.
应用推荐