With the U.S. cutting back coal production and at least some Chinese officials inclined to follow suit, “there are some emerging reasons why [Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott] might need to worry that the worst is about to happen in his eyes—that Australian coal might be left in the ground unsold,” Edis writes. China’s interest in a national emissions trading scheme, as well as its growing concern with air quality, led Citigroup analysts to conclude that “the flattening or peaking of thermal coal demand for power generation in China by 2020 is now a plausible if not likely scenario.” Edis calls that “Abbott’s worst nightmare.” (h/t to Chris Wood)
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