Saying Goodbye to Coal
As shown here (and more legibly below), coal consumption in the U.S. is declining precipitously.
There are several drivers at play here, thus it’s impossible to quantify precisely what’s going on. The main cause is most certainly economics; it’s become far more expensive to operate a coal-fired power plant than the equivalent in natural gas. In addition, the cost of solar and wind energy has fallen to the point that, in the course of a given day, it’s often the cheapest energy source, even without subsidies.
Somewhere in the constellation of causative factors is the concern we have for the health of our bodies and the environment they call home. One would like to think that’s important, though right now, not so much; we’re hard at work rolling back emissions standards for our coal plants. One day, however, Deo volente, energy policy will be based on the health and safety of the peoples of the world.
Craig,
Again you post these odd little charts like you are cheering for a football team.
Renewable energy in the form of Wind and solar are proving increasingly uneconomic and inadequate for industrial “power on demand” consumption. Nor are they significantly environmentally beneficial over the long term.
Large scale power generation requires either heavy subsidies, or long term investment certainty of supply and pricing to construct.
During the eight years of Obama, the US federal government damaged the US coal industry by destroying investment confidence, providing massive subsidies to rivals and de-industrialing great swathes of US industry removing the customers from Coal plants.
Before Obama the US Coal industry was already experiencing difficulties with an aging fleet of plants needing heavy investment to rebuild and restructure.
The sudden rise of massive new natural gas backed by massive investment along with government(s) support and funding by the oil giants made coal less attractive as an investment.
At this crucial period while India, Japan and China began investing in R&D toward perfecting and commercializing new “Clean(er) Coal” technology, the newly elected Obama administration began an ill-informed ‘war’ against US Coal.
The coal industry was rescued by the incoming Trump administration by an massive increase in exports, but too late to attract investment in new domestic coal fired power plants.
Yet, Coal still remains the only generator of electricity that can potentially its waste products for environmentally beneficial uses.
New clean coal technology is already proving successful in China, India and Japan at producing by-products to reduce emissions in other heavy emitting industries. The technology not only makes coal environmentally beneficial, but commercially more economic.
Only in America and Europe where the giant Wind and Solar corporations funded politically motivated “green’ parties rabidly oppose “clean(er) Coal” has this technology not been deployed.
Natural gas usage is outpacing production causing a steady rise in prices. With greater demand from Asia the price will continue to rise. As a result US energy price will once again see US manufacturing decline and become noncompetitive.
The US economy and US citizens will once again experience the lack of confidence and prosperity of the Obama era. The US must adopt as a matter of urgency Clean(er) coal technology, or lose out to Asian rivals.
Those opposing the introduction of Clean(er) Coal Technology are not only enemies of US economic prosperity, but selfish enemies of a cleaner environment with less emissions.