Global demand for coal, an energy source that has raised air quality concerns, is set to rise for a second year in a row in 2018 and will remain stable in the next five years.

Declines in Europe and North America are offset by strong growth in India and Southeast Asia, according to a Tuesday report from the International Energy Agency.

"The story of coal is a tale of two worlds with climate action policies and economic forces leading to closing coal power plants in some countries, while coal continues to play a part in securing access to affordable energy in others," said Keisuke Sadamori, Director of Energy Markets and Security at the IEA.

"India sees the largest increase of any country, although the rate of growth, at 3.9% per year, is slowing," the IEA said. Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam will also see significant increases.

However, coal's contribution to the global energy mix is forecast to decline slightly from 27 percent last year to 25 percent by 2023, the report added.

The largest coal consumer in the world is China, where coal accounts for 14 percent of global primary energy. That is equivalent to about half of the world's coal consumption.

China, however, is making efforts to reduce coal consumption as it works to improve the country's air quality. Because of this, Chinese coal demand will fall by around 3 percent during the five year period.

According to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists organization, "when coal is burned it releases a number of airborne toxins and pollutants" such as mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and various other heavy metals."

Limits on emissions set by regulators can help mitigate "some" of the problems, it added.

Coal consumption in the United States has declined in the past decade. In 2017, coal provided the largest energy generation share in 18 states, down from 28 a decade earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration's September report.

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End of an era as Germany's last black coal mine closes
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