CRYPTOGRAPHY – Producers like Russia are reaping profits. China is turning more towards this very abundant resource on its territory.

In the coal basin of Kansk-Achinsk in Siberia, as in Indonesia, in eastern Kalimantan, immense open-pit mines are more active than ever. Hydraulic shovels bite into the coal vein while uninterrupted lines of trucks transport the ore along winding tracks in a cloud of dust.

Here, as elsewhere, there is no question of interrupting, let alone slowing down, the production of this highly polluting fuel. The Gulf War, with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the production of gas and oil it entails, puts coal back at the center of energy strategies.

Raw material for chemistry in China

Beijing, in particular, is rebounding on this ore. “It is clear that two directions in China will strengthen with this crisis,” emphasizes Joseph Delatte, an energy specialist at the Montaigne Institute. China will intensify the electrification of its activities, through renewable energies and nuclear power but also with coal, which still represents even more.