Pharmacology Journal

Globalclimate change has become one of the most important recent issue. Themajor contributor is the burning of fossil-fuels and deforestationwhich release large amounts of carbon-dioxide [].The consequences of man-induced global-scale climatic change have thepotential to trigger serious international economic and politicalevents for all nations. Thus any possible changes in the energyinfrastructure to encourage a reduction of fossil-fuels usage areimportant in meeting the challenge of climate change in connection withthe greenhouse effect.Coal, which has great importance among theenergy sources, is the primary factor for the industrial revolution inthe world. Countries that exploited their coal reserves in the thcentury are now developed countries. Coal keeps its favourable positionbecause it is a safe and reliable energy source, not only because coalrepresents about two-thirds of the entire world’s fossil energyresources, but its distribution is widespread.BP []indicates that the world’s oil reserves to production R/P ratio is. years, gas . years while coal years, i.e., nearly fourtimes that for oil and . times that for gas. With higher prices foroil and natural gas making coal more competitive, coal was again theworld’s fastest-growing used fuel in , with global consumptionrising by % per annum or twice the -year average.The increased use of coal will inevitably result in more air and water pollutions and rising global COemissions. BP statistics indicates that coal discharges . tonscarbon per ton of oil equivalent, while natural gas and oil is . and. tons respectively. In , coal was the second largestsource of world CO emissions behind oil and ahead of natural gas [].The major difficulty of dealing with man-induced climate change and the release of CO is directly related to energy use and future energy demands. COemissions have been clearly linked to economic growth. The world energyeconomy is carbon based: without question, no nation is prepared toreduce substantially or control CO emissions at least forthe foreseeable future. This does not mean that the formulation of along-term energy or environmental policy should be delayed [].Whatcan the world community do about it? Is it necessary to abandon theburning of coal to protect the Earth from unprecedented climate change?What realistic strategies can be followed to balance economic growthand environmental protection?Although coal has played a decisiverole in maintaining and promoting the steady growth of the worldeconomy, coal consumption patterns and trends in the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Development OECD countries are muchdifferent from those outside the OECD i.e., non-OECD countriescountries.The Kyoto Protocol, which requires participatingcountries to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions collectively to anannual average of about five percent below their level over the– period, became a legally-binding treaty on February , [].Coal consumption patterns in participating OECD and non-OECD countrieswill inevitably be effected. Will coal consumption reduction causeeconomic shocks? Is there a “causal” relationship between coalconsumption and economic growth? This paper considers the major OECDUnited States USA, Japan JP, South Korea KR and non-OECDcountries PR China CN, Russian Federation RF, India IN and SouthAfrica SA Table [] to study the causal relationships between coal consumption and economy and so provide a scientific basis for decision-making.Table . Coal Consumption of major OECD and non-OECD countries MTOE Change over share of total OECD countries United States..%.% Japan..%.% Germany.−.%.% South Korea..%.% Total OECD..%.% Non-OECD countries PR of China..%.% Russian Federation..%.% India..%.% South Africa.−.%.% Total non-OECD..%.%

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