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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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TheRelationshipbetweenClimateChangePoliciesandEnergySecurity EuropeandBeyond 63 abletoliveuptoitsexpectationstobea bridge toalowcarboneconomyand mayevenbecomeasunsetindustry. 4.犆狅犪犾犪狀犱狋犺犲犚狅犾犲狅犳犆犪狉犫狅狀犆犪狆狋狌狉犲犪狀犱犛狋狅狉犪犵犲 犆犆犛 Ontheglobalscale coaliscurrentlythefastestgrowingfossilenergy carrierandcontinuestobethesecondmostimportantfossilfuel slowlyclosing thegapwithoil.InthereferencescenarioofitsWorldEnergyOutlook theIEA 2008 predictsa61percentincreaseinglobalconsumptionofcoalbetween2006 and2030.Overthenext10years Chinaalonewillinstallmorepowergeneration capacitybasedoncoalthanEuropesentirecurrentstock. IntheEU however primarycoaldemandhasdecreasedconsiderablysince the1980s largelyduetotheswitchfromcoaltogasfiredpowerproductionin WesternEuropeandeconomictransitionintheEast.Thistrendisexpectedto continue withdemanddecreasingbyalmost20percentbetween2006and2030. Similarly thevolumeofcoalproduceddomestically withinthe EU27 will continuetodecrease.Asaresult theEU willbecomemoredependenton importsdespiteowningconsiderabledomesticreserves 3.5percentofglobal reserves .Domesticcoalproductionisforecasttofallto48 percentof consumptionby2030 downfrom59percentin2006. Coalimportsarefarmoreregionallydiversifiedthannaturalgasimports for example and mostexportingcountriesqualifyasstabledemocracies which largelyrespectthesamemarketandpoliticalrulesastheEU.Inaddition the coalmarketisatrulyglobal openandwellfunctioningone notdominatedbya singlesupplier suchasOPEC.Atthesametime therearestillconsiderable globalprovencoalreserves which atthecurrentglobalrateofproduction maybesufficientforanother133years BP2008 .Finally coalisrelativelysafe totransportandstore.Itcanbetransportedquicklybyshipandrail without theneedforexpensivelongruninfrastructureandrelatedtransportandtransit securityissues.AllthesefactorscontributetotheassessmentthatEuropean importdependencydoesnotposeanelevatedrisktoitsuninterruptedsupplyof coalinthelongrun althoughtherearesomerisksintheshortrunstemming fromweatherandotherunforeseeablefactorsinproducercountries aswellas increasingdemandinsomeemergingeconomies Giventhatimportdependenceisnotamajorlongtermsecurityissueinthe caseofcoal thereareotherrisksthatneedtobedealtwith.Ontheglobalscale thegreatestenvironmentalthreatinthelongtermisclimatechange.Theuseof coalinelectricityproductioncausesfarmoregreenhousegasemissionsthanthe useofanyotherenergycarrier.Toputthisintoperspective at28percent coal