Coal’s decline is accelerating — in the United States and worldwide, skriver YaleEnviromnent 360.
With the fuel unable to compete in most places with natural gas, nuclear, and renewables, the mining and burning of coal is increasingly toxic economically as well as environmentally. Coal mines are becoming “stranded assets” — unlikely ever to pay off the costs of their development. The risks for financiers are becoming too great.
«Burning it produces roughly twice as much CO2 for every unit of energy output as natural gas. It is currently responsible for around 30 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions.»
Coal burning worldwide fell a further 3 percent last year, the biggest decline yet from a peak in 2013. That trend is unlikely to change. The number of new coal plants that began construction worldwide fell by 84 percent between 2015 and 2018, according to NGOs tracking the demise.
Despite the Trump administration’s dismissal of the climate crisis, the U.S. is proving no exception. Twelve years ago, 45 percent of U.S. electricity was generated by burning coal. The figure is now 24 percent and falling fast.
New coal power plant capacity, both in construction (light blue) and in development (dark blue), has fallen by two-thirds since 2015. Data: Global Coal Plant Tracker. Chart by Carbon Brief.