This industry is consuming more and more coal. Black gold is dragging it up.

• China is leading the race to convert coal into chemicals, and the Chinese government is promoting the development of a coal-based chemicals industry.
• Environmentalists are sounding the alarm, pointing out that the production of chemicals based on "black gold" is much more polluting than conventional processes based on gas or oil.
• They point out that CO2 emissions from ammonia production, for example, triple when coal is used as a feedstock instead of gas. Furthermore, coal-based chemical technologies are also extremely water-intensive.

Most of China's new coal chemical projects are located in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. The expansion of chemical production in these provinces is closely linked to the development and expansion of coal mining.

"The demand for coal won't end anytime soon"

For example, Chinese conglomerate TBEA is planning a new coal and gas project in Xinjiang and aims to increase annual production at the Jiangjun Gebi open-pit mine from 30 million tons to as much as 80 million tons.

- Looking at Asia and the development of coal-fired power plants there, especially in India, we can safely say that the demand for coal will not end anytime soon - emphasizes Rob Bishop, CEO of the Australian mining company New Hope Corp., quoted in Western media.

India is also developing coal processing for the chemical industry . Local media indicate that fourteen new coal chemistry projects are in the pipeline. The Indian government is offering support for such ventures.

The country's largest coal company, Coal India, is already involved in numerous projects utilizing coal in the chemical industry. In Indonesia, the government also sees coal chemistry projects as a crucial element of its industrialization strategy.

Several coal chemistry projects are in the pipeline, and the Indonesian government is in talks with China's Beiken Energy Group to develop more.

Indonesia alone plans to build 35 coal-fired power plants.

Indonesia alone plans to build 35 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 16,386 MW . It's worth noting that 58% of this total capacity is comprised of so-called proprietary power plant projects, meaning those designed to supply electricity to specific industrial facilities.

- Coal mining in the world is indeed doing very well - emphasizes Paweł Bogacz, professor at the AGH University of Science and Technology, in an interview with WNP.

There is great potential for growth in the processing of coal into chemicals.

China, India, and the United States still have virgin coal deposits. These allow for extraction from shallow depths, often through open-pit mining.

Coal deposits there are nowhere near as deep as those in the European Union or Ukraine. With access to cheap coal, it's possible to consider developing chemical production based on this raw material.

China's coal-to-chemicals production capacity is estimated at over 500 million tons per year. There is significant potential for growth in coal-to-chemicals processing, both among existing companies and those under development.