Wednesday, September 22, 2021

While Democrats Try To ‘Kill Coal' In US, Asia Heads In The Opposite Direction

Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are working towards an ambitious goal of eliminating coal-fired electricity and 'decarbonize' the US electric grid by 2035.

In short, Democrats are asking power companies to take a huge gamble on renewable energy - which would effectively 'kill' coal-fired electricity in the US. "The CEPP would eliminate coal-fired electricity by 2030, if not sooner," according to a letter to House reps by Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of America's Power - which represents top miners, who added that the program would also "Eliminate or at least drastically curtail the use of natural gas to generate electricity."

While coal generation has dropped by half over the past two decades, its use has sharply risen since the pandemic began - increasing from 15% to 23%. And while US progressives may be able to 'kill' coal in the West, Asia is headed in the opposite direction.

China is leading the world in new coal power plants, building more than three times as much new coal power capacity as all other countries in the world combined in 2020.

TIME. As FreightWaves' Greg Miller noted in July, bulk ships full of coal are headed to Asia.

"Despite an unseemly carbon footprint, coal demand is actually accelerating this year" across much of Asia.

In other words, China is leading a coal recovery by restarting dozens of shuttered coal mines to increase power demand, while other Asian nations are engaged in their own coal projects.

https://www.nationandstate.com/2021/09/22/while-democrats-try-to-kill-coal-in-us-asia-heads-in-the-opposite-direction/ 

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