Speaking in a keynote address to the guests at the Coaltrans China event, Boyce said there was “no more fitting backdrop” than China to “demonstrate the power of coal to lift societies and the power of technology to change the colour of coal”

China is the fastest-growing coal market in the world and the Peabody chairman noted that it was no coincidence the country was also the world’s largest coal user.

“[China] is accomplishing what no other nation has ... navigating industrialization, urbanization and modernization all at once,” he said.

“More than any other nation in the world ... China is an economic miracle that is powered by coal."

He said China’s participation in “the global technology revolution” with its roles in the GreenGen project and other advanced coal plants for low-carbon, and ultimately emissions-free, economies would help the sector make “black the new green”

Boyce also spoke on the “three Es” – nations securing their energy supplies, strengthening economies and advancing their environmental goals – through greater “green coal” use.

"Every day, we must use more coal ... more cleanly ... to benefit the world's people and economies," he said.

The moves are all that more important given the growing global population, which is expected to swell 25% by 2030 to more than 8 billion. Worldwide energy needs will also go up 40% during that time, and Boyce pointed out that the growth would come at a time when more than half the globe did not have adequate electricity access.

"So we have the dual challenge of providing electricity to the 3.6 billion people who aren't properly connected and expanding infrastructure to another 2 billion people who will be added to the grid," he said.

The most vital and pressing of that scenario was the “crisis” affecting those who could not access the basic necessity of electricity.

“The opportunity? More green coal,” he pointed out to the industry crowd.

“Coal is the only large-scale, sustainable fuel capable of meeting the demands of the world's major economies ... and technology is the right path to accomplish our energy, economic and environmental goals."

Achieving the ‘three Es’

Boyce highlighted coal-based solutions to meet the three Es, beginning with energy security.

"Coal is the future fuel to provide electricity at scale: coal demand will continue to outpace other energy sources and is forecast to grow 53 per cent by 2030 ... more than 1.5 times the combined growth rate of all other energy sources including oil, gas, nuclear and hydro.

"The world has trillions of tons of coal, which comprise 60 per cent of our global energy resources ... and we will use them all,” he said, pointing out that reserves were large and geographically diverse, spanning every major continent on Earth.

Economically, the Peabody chairman said that coal was making progress. There were about 250 gigawatts worth of coal-fueled generation being constructed worldwide, or enough to meet about 950 million tons annually of incremental coal demand along with 4.5 million jobs and more than $1 trillion in benefits to the economy as a result of construction.

However, more clean coal was “essential” to meet energy needs on the environmental solutions front.

“As we continue increasing our use of coal, we must do more to achieve the parallel goal of a cleaner environment, working toward near-zero emissions, which includes carbon management,” Boyce said.

“The multi-step path includes building supercritical combustion plants with improved efficiencies; demonstrating carbon capture and storage; completing large-scale CCS demonstrations; advancing coal to gas with CCS; deploying integrated gasification combined cycle technology with CCS on a commercial scale; and retrofitting the world's existing coal fleet with CCS technologies."

The 8th Coaltrans China conference in Beijing was held on April 12-13