Coal’s future is safe – but what about the climate?

LONDON (Reuters) – Does coal have a future? Climate change protesters and coal traders alike say it’s a daft question, but agreement ends there.

For protesters, the shiny black lumps of fossilised wood and plants are contributing to drastic climate change. For traders, coal is an energy no-brainer which offers a ray of hope for 1.6 billion people living without electricity.

They’re probably both right.


By mid-century, the world may have an extra 3 billion people and four times the wealth but somehow it must also at least halve carbon emissions from its main energy source — fossil fuels — to rein in dangerous global warming, scientists say.

Power generation accounts for about two-fifths of global emissions, from burning fossil fuels, of the main man-made greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, and coal for most of that.

“You’ve got to say — ‘Right, here’s the line in the sand, we’re going to stop it here because it’s madness to continue’,” said Connor O’Brien, spokesman for protesters against a proposed new coal-fired power station in southern England, which would be Britain’s first for nearly 30 years.

Reuters