Coal ! Why are we paying so much
Coal has many important uses worldwide. The most significant uses are in electricity generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and as a liquid fuel. Around 6.1 billion tonnes of hard coal were used worldwide last year and 1 billion tonnes of brown coal. Since 2000, global coal consumption has grown faster than any other fuel. The five largest coal users - China, USA, India, Russia and Japan - account for 77% of total global coal use.
Different types of coal have different uses. Steam coal - also known as thermal coal - is mainly used in power generation. Coking coal - also known as metallurgical coal - is mainly used in steel production.
The People's Republic of China is the largest consumer of coal in the world. 68% of its electricity comes from burning coal. 49% in the USA. In Ireland it's 20%. We use .5% of the world consumption yearly. we import all our coa,l the biggest imports come from
Columbia - 41.9%
Indonesia - 29.9%
South Africa- 14.9%
There are taxes on coal. In 2010 the government introduced a carbon tax at the rate of €15 per tonne of CO2. The VAT rate in 13.9%. Why are we paying so much. By International standards we use very little. We only have One power station ( Money Point) using coal. So the question is why are we paying some of the highest prices in the world for our electricity ? Why are we not rewarded for being good world citizens using so little coal ?
No comments:
Post a Comment