In Russia, by 2050, the share of coal in energy generation may increase

The share of coal in the energy balance of Russia by 2050, contrary to the climate agenda and goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, may not only not decrease, but even grow slightly. This option is being discussed as part of the preparation of a new energy strategy until 2050, follows from the July minutes of the meeting of the Energy Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation (Vedomosti has it).

We are talking about increasing the share of coal generation in the country’s energy balance to 15% from the current 13%. The chairman of the commission, the governor of the Kemerovo region, Sergei Tsivilev, as follows from the protocol, emphasized at the meeting that in recent years the world coal industry has been subjected to “very great pressure.” At the same time, as reported in the document, earlier one of the considered energy development scenarios assumed a decrease in the share of coal in generation to 9.8% by 2035 and 4.9% by 2050. That the share of coal in the energy balance of Russia by 2050 According to the forecast data of the Ministry of Energy, it can be 4–5%, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov also spoke in the fall of 2021, presenting a draft low-carbon development strategy until 2050 (approved by the government at the end of October 2021).