Taking the long view on Coal

Oil will stop being plentiful enough to burn for fuel in the next 50 to 100 years. Coal, on the other hand, has a much longer life, but its distribution and mining rate varies. If you take the long view, the country in the catbird seat right now is Russia. At their current rate of production, their reserves will last 440 years. The USA, on the other hand, has larger reserves, but are only projected to last 270 years.

Oil reserves in Russia will last to the end of oil’s dominance globally.

At current production rates, US coal reserves will equal Russian reserves in 164 years. Everyone else will be out of coal except Kazakhstan and Ukraine. China, which burns half the world’s coal, will exhaust its supply in less than 30 years.

Russia already has its eyes on taking the Ukraine and its 560 years of coal reserves. Kazakhstan is another bordering country with a Russian minority. It is about the size of India, with a total population that would fit into one of India’s major metropolitan cities, and has 288 years of coal reserves. It is rich in other minerals including oil and gas and is a sitting duck for Russian takeover. If combined with those two satellites’ reserves, Russian reserves would exceed those of the US in less than 65 years while also outlasting the States in oil reserves.

Now if Russia can figure out a way to induce the USA to start mining and burning more coal and slow down on alternate energy development, Russia’s dominance in energy will come much sooner than a century from now.

Country	Annual Production	Coal Reserves	Years Left
China	3874	114,500	30
United States	907	246,643	272
Australia	644	78,500	122
India	538	92,445	172
Indonesia	458	4,968	11
Russia	358	157,010	439
South Africa	261	48,750	187
Germany	186	6,739	36
Poland	137	14,000	102
Kazakhstan	109	31,279	288
Colombia	89	6,611	75
Turkey	71	4,186	59
Canada	69	6,578	96
Ukraine	61	34,153	561
Greece	49	3,900	79
Czech Republic	47	5,552	118