Coal represented 30% of worldwide primary energy consumption in 2013, and coal-fired power plants are a significant source of electricity generation in many countries. How can the behaviors of coal markets be represented in models?

KAPSARC’s workshop in Washington, DC on October 22, 2014 entitled Modeling Coal Markets, discussed this and topics such as future challenges for coal, potential ways forward for generation technologies, improvements in production processes, and market developments. The workshop included discussions of current modeling efforts and suggestions for including more dynamic behavior of coal markets in future models.

The workshop brought together over two dozen experts from the US Energy Information Administration, International Energy Agency, Wood Mackenzie, Coal Marketing Company, UC Berkeley, Alstom Power, ICF International, PIRA Energy Group, Arch Coal, Colorado School of Mines, DIW Berlin, World Bank, Nagoya University, UC Davis, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Mercuria Energy Trading S.A.