April 20, 2026 - American demand for coal has surged as technology companies scramble to power data centres for AI.

The US consumed 410 million tonnes of coal last year, an annual increase of about 38 million tonnes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

That was the largest increase of any region and bucked a general trend of slowing growth around the world, including in China.

It follows Donald Trump’s pledge to make coal a major part of his plan for “American energy dominance”, with the president easing pollution standards and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to keep plants across the country open.

Coal releases nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas when burned.

Some 190 nations, including the US and China, made a pledge in 2021 at the UK-led United Nations climate summit in Scotland to “phase down” use of the fuel.

But Trump has instead focused on reviving the US coal industry, arguing that it will help to keep energy prices low and will reduce the risk of blackouts.

Demand for power on the US grid is rocketing as technology companies build vast data centre complexes to power AI software, with long queues for gas-powered turbines prompting companies to consider alternatives.

The IEA said global coal demand in 2025 grew by just 0.4pc annually, or around 30 million tonnes, less than the 1.4pc seen in 2024.

China, by far the world’s largest consumer of coal, also only increased its consumption by 0.1pc.

By contrast, US consumption was up by 10pc. That compared with drops of 16pc in 2023 and 5pc in 2024.

A global energy review published by the IEA on Monday said that the rise was “driven by higher use in the electricity sector, which accounts for almost 90pc of US coal consumption”.

It added: “Strong electricity demand and higher gas prices, together with US government support for slowing coal plant retirements, were the major drivers behind this reversal.”

Overall, global coal consumption is expected to have hit a new record of 8,845 million tonnes, the IEA said.

However, it predicted that consumption had now plateaued as countries gradually switched to cleaner sources of electricity such as gas-fired plants, nuclear energy and renewables.

Trump has argued that “beautiful, clean coal” still played an essential role in keeping the lights on in the US and criticised moves by previous administrations to reduce its use.

He said in a speech last year: “I told my people, never use the word ‘coal’ unless you put ‘beautiful, clean’ before it.

“The Biden administration – he had no clue what he was doing – shut down dozens of coal plants ... They were shutting them down left and right as fast as you could ...

“And if we had stayed on the ruinous path, we would have seen mass suffering and rolling blackouts all over the country.”