King Coal may be losing its crown
The signs keep coming that markets are turning against coal. The Energy Information Administration reports that coal use, as a share of total US energy generation, fell to the lowest level since the 1970s.
By Ben Serrurier
Climate Solutions
The signs keep coming that markets are turning against coal. The Energy Information Administration reports that coal use, as a share of total US energy generation, fell to the lowest level since the 1970s: 34%. At this point, King Coal is dangerously close to losing its crown as the largest source of US energy. Natural gas, with prices hovering near their ten year lows, represents 30% of US energy production. And as fast as natural gas and cleaner energy sources are seizing market share, coal is shrinking.
The declining use of coal in the US is a top reason coal
companies are so keen to build export terminals in the Northwest. It
isn’t clear, though, that
Chinese and other Asian markets are going to continue to have unlimited demand
for coal.
We don’t want coal here, and they don’t want coal there. Markets
may be reflecting what we have known for a long time: the best strategy for
coal is to leave it in the ground.
China Coal Consumption
Australia is recovering from its problems that reduced their exports. Do we want an empty coal terminal at Cherry Point?