Coal, the world's fastest-growing source of energy, will remain a "backbone" of global power generation, bolstered by expanding demand in developing nations, the International Energy Agency said.

Coal generates about 30 per cent of power in the 27-nation European Union, according to Brussels-based lobby group Euracoal. That rises to more than half in the U.S. and about two-thirds in China. Growth will be fastest in developing nations outside the 30-member, Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the IEA said.

"Coal will remain the backbone of our energy system, especially in power generation," Fatih Birol, chief economist of the IEA, told a McCloskey coal conference in Nice, France, on Tuesday.

Email to a friendPrinter friendly

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

Efforts by the EU to curb emissions blamed for global warming may be weakened by the expansion of power generation in nations such as China and India, Birol said.