Coal news and updates

 Building just a third of planned new coal-fired power plants around the world would push hundreds of millions of people into poverty as it accelerates climate change past an agreed limit of 2 degrees Celsius of warming, development experts warn.

 

As pressure builds to phase out coal as a power source in favor of cleaner renewable energy, the coal industry has fought back, arguing that coal is the cheapest and most reliable way to bring power to millions without it.

 

In particular, "clean coal" technology offers emissions 25 to 40 percent lower than traditional coal plants, industry officials say.

 

But a report by a dozen poverty and development organizations - including the UK-based Overseas Development Institute and the Vasudha Foundation in New Delhi - suggests that falling prices for solar and wind power mean renewable energy is now the fastest and least expensive way to bring electricity to the world's poor.

 

In particular, off-grid and "distributed" renewable power - in which smaller-scale clean power systems are built close to areas of demand, avoiding the high cost of expanding national power grids - is "the cheapest and quickest way of reaching over two-thirds of those without electricity", the report said.

Reuters