ENERGY : COAL TO REMAIN 'BACKBONE' OF POWER SUPPLY, SAYS INDUSTRY.

Although coal consumption across the European Union is set to decrease over the next years, this fossil fuel will nevertheless remain "the backbone of electricity supply" in many member states. This is a reality that, according to Euracoal's President Pawel Smolen, representing the European coal industry, is not always clear in the decarbonisation debate. Instead of trying to demonise coal by discouraging investments in the sector, Europe should focus on increasing the efficiency of power plants, he said.

"It is important to kill one myth: that stopping coal investments will decrease emissions," Smolen said, on Jan 20. "The opposite is true, and trying to deny it [ ] will lead to the paradox of increasing emissions." His comments came during the presentation of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) 2013 medium-term 'Coal market report' in Brussels, which showed a recent increase in coal use for power generation in the EU.

Coal gained merit in the last years since its price is lower than that of gas, according to Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA's director for energy markets and security, who spoke alongside Smolen. New coal capacity is expected in Germany and the Netherlands, but power plant retirements are also expected, especially in the United Kingdom. Germany, one of the largest renewables producer in the EU, is phasing out its nuclear energy capacity, replacing it with coal, which is financially more appealing than gas. Furthermore, Denmark - also with a large share of renewables production - is almost on par with China in terms of coal use in power generation per capita, according to IEA figures.

"It is hard to understand that we are producing more and more coal and less and less gas when we have this climate problem," said Roland Festor, OGP's European affairs director, on 24 January, at a conference organised by the French think tank Confrontations Europe in Brussels. But Sadamori from the IEA said that "We do not expect the golden age of coal in Europe to last long". The closure of power stations in other member states and an increased share of renewables will lead to a decline in coal demand, he added.

Nevertheless, Smolen said, coal will remain "the backbone of electricity supply" in many EU member states. In Denmark, 40% of electricity comes from coal, in Germany almost half, while in Bulgaria, Greece and the Czech Republic more than half. In Poland, 86% of electricity generation depends on coal, he said. "One might say those plants...