Surprisingly, China is not the world’s biggest consumer of coal — South Africa is. 77 percent South Africa’s energy consumption is coal-based. Though China uses the most coal — about 2 billion tons (1.8 trillion kilograms) each year — its energy consumption is 70 percent coal-based.
More Coal in Your Stocking Facts:
The average coal-based energy consumption worldwide is about 30 percent.
The United States energy consumption is about 25 percent coal-based, which is less than Germany or Japan.
60 percent of the world’s coal is mined underground. Surface mining, however, accounts for 80 percent of the production in Australia and 67 percent of the US production.
More than 5,845 million tonnes of coal are produced worldwide each year.