DIGIVESTASI -India and China bring good news for coal. Both countries will continue to drive global coal demand, even though they have set ambitious targets for their respective renewable energy projects. 
It is worth noting that China is the world's largest energy consumer while India ranks third in the world. For coal, these two countries are the largest consumers of coal as their economies continue to grow.

According to International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, China's coal consumption is expected to increase by a third by 2025, compared to a quarter in 2015. The same is true for India. Observers say that in addition to coal, the rapid development of the country's economy also means that demand for oil and gas energy will increase significantly.

"If India and China continue to grow economically at a good pace over the next decade, we're not going to see demand," strategist Ian Roper told CNBC on Thursday about raw materials at Astris Advisory Japan KK. Coal will soon disappear globally. According to the IEA's latest data, global coal consumption in 2023 will hit a record high, exceeding 8.5 billion tons for the first time. Demand is occurring in developing countries such as India, China and Southeast Asia.

China's raw coal production from January to November 2023 increased by 2.9% compared to the same period in 2022. India's coal production increased to 893 million tons in the fiscal year ending March 2023, an increase of nearly 15% over the previous year. 

In contrast, in the United States, coal consumption has decreased. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the superpower's daily coal consumption fell 62%, from 2.8 million tons to 1.1 million tons per day.

China and India  
Meanwhile, other observers think carbon emissions will continue to rise because of these two countries. So both are needed. 

"The targets are China and India, because these two countries are now using more coal so their carbon emissions are increasing, not decreasing," said Ron Thummel, managing director of Tortoise Capital. In fact, both countries have adopted and set ambitious renewable energy targets. For example, India has set an ambitious goal: meeting 50% of its electricity needs from renewable energy by 2030.

Even so, 75% of India's electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. According to a Citibank study, India's power generation inventory will increase by 6% in 2023 compared to the previous year. "The country is also expected to add 80 gigawatts of coal-fired thermal power generation capacity over the next eight years," according to data from CNBC International. 

In China, coal accounts for 61% of power generation, although the country is recognized as a leader in renewable energy development. China is adding new projects to its grid at almost the same rate as the rest of the world combined by 2022 and has ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2060. 

However, the unreliability of renewables means coal remains an important backup option for both countries. Last year, the Bamboo Curtain faced electricity shortages, while hydropower generation in recent years has been very low, causing the output of hydropower plants to decline.