Why Does Old King Coal Still Rule?

Coal trains passing through Denver

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

Tankers line up along the Chesapeake Bay waiting to their fill their holds with coal. From my vantage point in Annapolis, Md., near Sandy Point Park, on a clear day I can see dozens of ships, some underway and others anchored, waiting their turn at the coal terminal in Baltimore. Hulking red or black rusted boxes, they hail from Singapore, Liberia, and Panama. Many of them won?t unload in U.S. waters?coal exports are booming nationally, up more than 30 percent last year and setting records.

Coal is dirty. It?s dangerous. It?s the single biggest contributor to the heat-trapping gases that cause climate change. But for all its Dickensian downsides, we use a lot of coal. It?s cheap. It?s abundant. And it?s going to be in use for a long time. Until recently, coal fueled half of the electricity generated in the United States. That number was whittled to 42 percent last year, mostly due to a new flood of cheap natural gas that made it economical for power plants to make the switch from burning coal.?

Efforts to use cleaner sources of energy in the United States have put coal in a state of flux. Air pollution regulations have forced power plants to clean up emissions from their smokestacks or shut down. Many operators are choosing natural gas rather than upgrading outdated coal plants. And renewable energy sources like wind and solar now vie for up to 20 percent of the electricity generated in states such as South Dakota and Iowa. But don?t be fooled into thinking coal is on a deep dive.

While coal consumption in the electric utility sector is down 10 percent, the world?s appetite for coal is driving up the demand for coal like never before. In 2011, U.S. coal exports were valued at $16.2 billion. And now coal producers are eager to supply the newest growth market: Asia.

Chart: Coal Reserves in Metric Tons

Peabody Energy is the largest producer of coal in the United States. Over the past five years, the company has secured long-term contracts to supply coal to China and India, and achieved record sales revenue of $7.97 billion in 2011, up 18 percent over the previous year. Smaller coal producers, too, have entered into contracts with the Asian market. In August, Appalachian producer Booth Energy Group signed a 25-year, $7 billion agreement committing to supply 9 million tons of coal annually to India from its mines in Kentucky and West Virginia.

In 2008, two events led to an unprecedented rise in U.S. coal exports: A severe winter in China increased demand for coal for heating, and floods in Australia cut off that country?s supply of coal to the Asian market. The surge was temporary, but it laid the groundwork for current export expansions.

United States exports will continue to fuel the world?s burning desire for coal, especially shipments to Europe. Why? Even though Europe has policies that encourage low-carbon energy, the demand for coal has grown in the first half of 2012 because coal prices there are lower than those for natural gas. In 2011, the United States exported 107 million tons of coal abroad; half of it went to Europe, and Asia was the second-largest destination.

Coal will remain a major fuel source domestically over the next 10 years, says energy analyst Elias Johnson of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That?s even though about 10 percent of the coal-fueled power plants are scheduled to be retired. ?Coal is our most abundant fossil fuel,? Johnson says. ?Even with legislation on emissions, coal will still play a significant role.?

Jeff Deyette, an energy research analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, agrees. The decline in coal will be gradual with no major drop-offs, he says, adding that coal could drop down to 30 percent of our electricity capacity in the next 10 years. Beyond that, the trend will depend on climate policy and whether the coal industry can overcome technical hurdles to cleaner coal plants. ?If we are able to do that adequately, there?s a somewhat brighter future for coal in the U.S. Otherwise, it will gradually decline and be replaced by cleaner options,? Deyette said. ?But there is no guarantee that the coal will just stay in the ground here if we stop using it.? Coal will still be mined for other countries that haven?t switched to cleaner energy options.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=45cc42f87fef99ebc97530b1ca82acf7

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