While the U.S. boom in shale gas helped push the fossil fuel's share of total
global energy consumption from 23.8 to 23.9 percent,
coal also increased its share, from 29.7 to 29.9 percent, as
demand for
coal - fired electricity
remained strong across much of the developing world, including China and India, and parts of Europe.
International markets
remain outstanding in the Pacific Rim, with China and India
coal import
demand continuing at record rates and developed economies running at higher capacity factors as they recover from the
global financial crisis.