Coal remains key to Asia's power plans despite tarnished image

KUALA LUMPUR -- For environmentalists, coal is a bad word. But for some of Asia's biggest economies, the same fuel that was the bedrock of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 19th century is key to economic development plans two centuries later.

While China, the world's biggest coal producer and consumer, is slowly cutting back on its use of coal for fuel, both Japan, a coal importer, and Indonesia, the world's biggest coal exporter by weight, plan to expand their coal-fired supplies in the coming years.

Other developing economies are turning to coal as they expand their electricity grids. Vietnam is likely to double coal consumption in the coming years, as will India -- which recently overtook Japan as the world's third-biggest oil importer and where roughly 250-300 million people do not have electricity.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/Coal-remains-key-to-Asia-s-power-plans-despite-tarnished-image