COVID-19 pandemic could bury coal industry
(ORDO NEWS) — Alternatives to coal are becoming cheaper and more competitive. So much so that some experts believe that the current pandemic will finally bury the coal industry.
In a new report by the US Energy Information Administration it says that in 2020 the country will produce 5% less electricity, which will lead to a historical reduction in carbon emissions by 11%. The EIA expects that the country’s coal production will decrease by 25% per year, and there will be no recovery to previous levels.
According to the report, in 2021, coal consumption will recover only 10%, and the amount of missing energy will compensate for natural gas and renewable sources. The EIA expects renewable energy sources to be the fastest growing source of electricity generation in 2020. The electricity sector is expected to add 20.4 gigawatts of new wind power and 12.7 gigawatts of solar power.
“COVID-19 will reduce coal pollution this year so much that the industry will never recover, even with continued expansion of production in India and elsewhere. Falling natural gas prices, record-breaking solar and wind energy, and climate and health issues have forever undermined the industry,” said Rob Jackson, Chairman of the Global Carbon Project.
Of all the fossil fuels in the world, coal is the largest source of carbon dioxide, and its effects on air pollution and public health have been repeatedly proven by various studies. According to recent research scientists from the Potsdam Institute, the rejection of the use of coal will halve the task that is set in the Paris climate agreements (not to allow the average temperature on the planet to rise above 2 ° C in relation to the pre-industrial era, and if possible reduce it to 1.5 ° C ).
According to the data Forbes, in 2019, global electricity production from coal decreased by 3%, and this was a record decline over the past 30 years. Since 2015, the number of coal-fired power plants under construction in the world has decreased by 84%. Since the construction of a coal-fired power plant takes five to six years, in the near future we will see an even more significant decline in the generation of electricity from coal.
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