in the period to global coal demand experiences strong growth but then slows rapidly with the level of global demand remaining broadly flat for much of the rest of the period before then flirting tentatively with decline as approaches the share of coal in the global energy mix peaks soon at and then declines gradually to by nonoecd countries account for all of the growth and china the world s largest consumer of coal will be pivotal in determining the evolution of global coal markets the flexibility of natural gas as a fuel together with its greater environmental and energy security attributes makes it an attractive fuel in a number of countries and sectors