COAL DEMAND STILL INCREASING ACROSS THE WORLD

 NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Asia's coal sector has gone from thinking they are in terminal decline as the world shifts to a net-zero carbon future to seeing themselves as being a part of the energy mix for decades to come, while raking in profits.

The bullish narrative was on full display at the industry's biggest gathering, the Coaltrans Asia conference held this week on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

What has changed for the coal industry is that they no longer believe that renewable energies can be deployed fast enough, cheaply enough and at sufficient scale to push fossil fuels out of Asia's energy mix.

"The reality is that coal demand will continue to increase," Septian Hario Seto, Indonesia's deputy of investment at its Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs, told the conference.