ALT Chart title: A reported surge in power sector coal demand is at odds with the amount of electricity generated. Chart showing the annualised coal consumption in the power sector, millions of tonnes per year. The lines show reported coal use, demand implied by coal power output and the amount that would have been needed if not for last year’s drought and heatwave. Source: Reported coal use at power plants from Wind Financial Terminal; predicted coal consumption based on a linear regression model using Ember monthly coal power generation data for China, date and month as the independent variables and reported coal consumption until the end of 2021 as the dependent variable. Coal use without drought and heatwave was calculated assuming that power demand growth in August was at the average for the other months of the year, and hydropower utilisation in July–November was at 2021 levels. Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts.