Coal Use To Grow Despite Green Concern

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Coal use grew by 30 percent in the last five years and future demand will likely fuel more power plant construction despite environmentalists’ opposition, the head of U.S. coal mining company Peabody Energy said on Thursday.

“Our view is that you will continue to have opposition, but plants are being built today,” President and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Boyce told an energy conference.
Asked about congressional action to combat carbon emissions blamed for global warming, Boyce said Peabody is working to develop cleaner-burning coal, but global demand, especially from China and India, is driving demand for the fossil fuel for electricity generation and steel production.

“Whether it is a windmill farm in Cape Cod or Long Island or a nuclear plant, you see a long line of people who want to be in opposition.

“Two years ago when they said 150 coal-fired power plants were planned, we never held the view that all 150 would be built. You will always have some opposition,” said Boyce.

The United States is the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main gas scientists link to global warming. Utilities are coming under pressure from green organizations to capture C02 with expensive equipment and bury it underground.

But the technology, not yet commercially available, could boost power bills by 20 percent, according to scientists.

Reuters