Is the End Near for Coal Power?

Times are tough for the coal industry. New emissions regulations are on the table in D.C., and there is a growing public discontent with coal-fired energy plants. On the other hand, in the U.S. we still have a 200 year supply of coal to be mined, and it currently accounts for a huge percentage of our overall energy supply. Nonetheless, a report this week by a leading environmental analyst recommended that the U.S. should invest more in renewable energy, and leave coal where it belongs -- in the ground.

Lester Brown is an analyst with the Earth Policy Institute, and one of the most renowned environmental thinkers in the world. On a media call this week, he said that efforts to develop carbon sequestration technology, which prevents emissions at coal-fired power plants, are too far off and would be more expensive than investing in alternative power sources.

Asked what the U.S. should do with its vast coal reserves, given the growing demand for electricity, Brown said: "I'm in favor of leaving it right where it is."

Naturally, the coal industry thinks Mr. Brown doth protest too much, and pointed out that coal is a critical source of affordable power in the U.S. today. And that’s hard to argue, considering that U.S. electricity utilities consumed 1.05 billion tons of coal last year, up from 859.3 million tons in 2000.

On NPR this week, I heard a report about the coal industry offering scholarships to students at the University of West Virginia, and other schools, if they major in coal engineering programs. From the sound of the report, there are an abundance of well-paying jobs in the coal industry, and the recruiters are offering some tantalizing incentives to sign up, a la the military. At one point, the reporter said that coal is responsible for about half of the energy we use in the U.S. Of course, if the U.S. concentrated more on energy efficiency, we could offset much of this energy loss.

"The cheapest alternative is investing in efficiency," Brown said, claiming that if the U.S. shifted to long-life compact florescent light bulbs, it would save enough power to close 80 coal-fired power plants.

Ultimately, coal’s biggest problems may be on Wall Street, where the investment community has all but abandoned the industry, in anticipation of tighter emissions regulations down the road. This month, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America said lending for coal-fired power plants will be contingent on utilities demonstrating they would be economically viable under future federal rules on emissions. 

In other words, see ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.