According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption hit another new record last year—8.77 billion metric tons—due to soaring coal use by China and India. Global coal demand is expected to grow by 1% in 2024—down from 2.4% growth in 2023. …
News Tag: Fossil Fuels
Low-Energy Fridays: If renewable energy is cheaper, then why don’t we use it exclusively?
The fundamental assertion behind many climate protests and activism is that decision-makers do not do enough. Often, the specific claim is that an apparent solution—transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy—is being sidelined or that decision-makers are under the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists. As is often the case, this isn’t the full story. An appreciation …
Coal Is One of the Biggest Winners from Trump Victory
Trump’s victory could extend the life of coal plants for years, because he plans to throw out the Biden administration’s environmental rules on the fossil fuel. Despite pledges by several countries to use less coal, it has stuck around, and global coal demand even rose to a record level last year—largely because of increased use …
The Supreme Court Will Not Stay the EPA Power Plant Rule While It Goes through the Lower Courts
The Supreme Court has decided not to stay the EPA’s “power plant rule” that requires the use of an expensive and non-commercial technology while lower courts deliberate the rule and its legality. …
Higher Electricity Costs and Coal Retirements
PJM, the largest electric grid operator in the nation,conducts an auction annually to ensure that its 13-state region has sufficient electricgenerating capacity − roughly speaking, enough power plants − to meet its future electricitydemand. The purpose of the recent auction was to procure generating capacity for 2025/26.The most striking thing about the auction was the …
PJM power auction results yield sharply higher prices
An annual power market auction by the largest U.S. electrical grid operator resulted in prices more than 800% higher than last year as supply dwindled and demand increased, the operator said on Tuesday. …
Reliance on fossil fuels remains virtually unchanged despite trillions for ‘clean energy’
At COP28, the recent United Nations climate change conference in the United Arab Emirates, bureaucrats, politicians and activists from nearly 200 countries gathered to push for a “transition away from fossil fuels” and continue and indeed expedite efforts to achieve a global net-zero “carbon footprint” by 2050. However, despite significant spending on clean energy, the …
The green energy ‘transition’ is simply not happening. Nor will it happen soon, or cheaply
Few energy analysts enjoy the level of global respect accorded to Vaclav Smil, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba and a best-selling author of 47 books. In his latest publication, a 48-page report titled “Halfway Between Kyoto and 2050: Net Zero Carbon Is a Highly Unlikely Outcome” Smil details efforts to date …
Breathe a Little Easier: Why America’s Air is Among the Cleanest in the World
Breathe a Little Easier is part of our ongoing effort to explain the role that energy has played in improving human living standards over the past two centuries. This project examines trends in air quality in the U.S. in order to push back at the doom-and-gloom narratives that dominate so much of our thinking about energy …
EV Ownership Ticks Up, but Fewer Nonowners Want to Buy One
Seven percent of Americans, up from 4% a year ago, report that they own an electric vehicle. That increase is matched by an equal decline in the percentage saying they are seriously considering buying one, from 12% to 9%. Meanwhile, fewer Americans – 35%, down from 43% in 2023 – say they might consider buying …