IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook for 2011 says India’s coal use could double, positioning it as the largest coal importer within ten years.

The report also noted that coal had met almost half of the increase in global energy demand over the last decade, but questioned whether this could be sustained.

It said if current policies were maintained coal use could rise by an extra 65% by 2035, overtaking oil as the largest fuel in the global energy mix.

The report projected that global coal use would rise for the next ten years, but would then level off to finish 25% above the levels of 2009.

Meanwhile it was noted that China’s five year plan for 2011-2015, which aims to reduce the energy and the carbon intensity of the economy, could be a determining factor for world coal markets.

The IEA predicts that China will consume nearly 70% more energy than the US in 2035, with the country bound to become a net-exporter again if a small shift in domestic demand took place.

While coal is trading more so in the Pacific than the Atlantic, the report said it could not predict the scale or direction of the future coal trade.

“The main market for traded coal continues to shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but the scale and direction of international trade flows are highly uncertain, particularly after 2020,” the report said.