upvote
The IEA says[1]:

> For all energy sources, the IEA clearly defines energy production at the point where the energy source becomes a “marketable product” (and not before).

Doesn't that mean if you are burning coal to make electricity, you wouldn't count the heat output because the generated heat is not a marketable product.

[1] https://www.iea.org/commentaries/understanding-and-using-the...

reply
I interpret "marketable product" to mean gas at the wellhead, coal at the mine terminal.
reply
I didn't interpret it that way because of this line from that page:

> [Total Final Consumption] shows the energy that is actually used by final consumers – the energy used in homes, transportation and businesses.

I'm not buying coal at the terminal to power my television.

reply
Indeed, but were we not looking at TPES before?
reply
Yes we were.

Looking at the chart for TFC, the wind and solar case looks even worse. Wind and solar supplies 2 million TJ compared to 36 million for coal.

All I was really trying to say from the outset is that I'm surprised at how important coal still is and how little we use renewables. I see articles here all the time about the massive advancements in solar (and wind to a lesser degree) and I had it in my head that renewables were a much larger part of the energy mix than they are.

reply
There is lag created by sunk capital costs. Coal is still producing considerable electric power in the US, but the last time a new coal-fired power plant came online was more than a decade ago, and there are none under construction (although Trump was trying to get one built, to considerable skepticism and inertia). The average age of a coal-fired power plant in the US is 40+ years.
reply