Foreground system:
The country / region specific hard coal consumption mix, mix indigenous produced hard coal with imports of hard coal from the corresponding producing countries. The mix can be seen for a specific country / region as average hard coal consumed. The pie chart presented below represents the hard coal consumption mix.
For the hard coal transportation the following modelling is used:
Indigenous production: For national production no specific transportation process is modelled.
Imports: Starting from a coal mine the imported hard coal is transported depending on its origin via rail, inland vessel, bulk carrier (ocean respectively costal) or a combination of several to the border or a coal terminal of the destination country / region.
For the whole hard coal supply (indigenous production and imports), an average regional distribution via rail (electric or diesel traction) and / or barge to the main consumer, like power plants and heavy industry, is calculated. The distance between exporting and importing country / region is based on railway tracks, stretches of river and sea routes. This regional distribution averages the distance from the vessel terminal, border resp. national hard coal mine to the consumer.
The data set considers the whole supply chain from hard coal mining, hard coal upgrading, long distance transport, and regional distribution to the final consumer.
The upstream process for hard coal production is described in detail in the linked data source "Upstream of hard coal production".
Background system:
Electricity: Electricity is modelled according to the individual country-specific situations. The country-specific modelling is achieved on multiple levels. Firstly, individual energy carrier specific power plants and plants for renewable energy sources are modelled according to the current national electricity grid mix. Modelling the electricity consumption mix includes transmission / distribution losses and the own use by energy producers (own consumption of power plants and "other" own consumption e.g. due to pumped storage hydro power etc.), as well as imported electricity. Secondly, the national emission and efficiency standards of the power plants are modelled as well as the share of electricity plants and combined heat and power plants (CHP). Thirdly, the country-specific energy carrier supply (share of imports and / or domestic supply) including the country-specific energy carrier properties (e.g. element and energy content) are accounted for. Fourthly, the exploration, mining/production, processing and transport processes of the energy carrier supply chains are modelled according to the specific situation of each electricity producing country. The different production and processing techniques (emissions and efficiencies) in the different energy producing countries are considered, e.g. different crude oil production technologies or different flaring rates at the oil platforms.
Thermal energy, process steam: The thermal energy and process steam supply is modelled according to the individual country-specific situation with regard to emission standards and considered energy carriers. The thermal energy and process steam are produced at heat plants. Efficiencies for thermal energy production are by definition 100% in relation to the corresponding energy carrier input. For process steam the efficiency ranges from 85%, 90% to 95%. The energy carriers used for the generation of thermal energy and process steam are modelled according to the specific import situation (see electricity above).
Transports: All relevant and known transport processes are included. Ocean-going and inland ship transport as well as rail, truck and pipeline transport of bulk commodities are considered.
Energy carriers: The energy carriers are modelled according to the specific supply situation (see electricity above).
Refinery products: Diesel fuel, gasoline, technical gases, fuel oils, lubricants and residues such as bitumen are modelled with a parameterised country-specific refinery model. The refinery model represents the current national standard in refining techniques (e.g. emission level, internal energy consumption, etc.) as well as the individual country-specific product output spectrum, which can be quite different from country to country. The supply of crude oil is modelled, again, according to the country-specific situation with the respective properties of the resources.