ENERGY
We denigrate coal as a stable source of electricity at our peril
Rob Jeffrey argues emerging economies will suffer if coal is taken out of the energy equation
Many articles suggest clean energy will save the planet, but one published by The Guardian in the middle of 2015 entitled "Clean energy won’t save us" is true for many reasons. The main objectives of emerging economies, in particular, must be to reduce poverty, inequality and unemployment. This can only be achieved by increasing the economic growth rate in these countries. It is ill-considered to restrict the amount of electricity generated by coal. Such a plan does not take into account some of the real economic and social problems of achieving such a goal. Modern coal plants are more efficient and create less pollution and substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) than previous-generation coal power plants. In many emerging countries such as SA, India, Indonesia and other Asean countries, modern-generation coal technology remains by far the cheapest source of generating a stable, secure and dispatchable supply of baseload electricity. Electricity remains the essential d...
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