Europe leads the way in how to smartly phase out coal from the energy mix
Countries such as Germany are planning packages of about $55bn in compensation for regions and companies that rely on the dirtiest fossil fuel
You can add coal to the list of global commodities struggling during the pandemic. Prices haven’t yet turned negative such as oil, but the coronavirus is accelerating the demise of the dirtiest fossil fuel.
Social distancing measures mean energy demand has fallen across the board. Some of the smallest declines, however, are in the electricity sector. That should have been good news for coal. But it hasn’t turned out that way. In much of the world, coal power is more expensive than gas and renewables, which explains why its share in the electricity mix has fallen in Europe, India, China and parts of the US. The power markets in these four regions are large and varied. That makes the uniformity of coal’s decline even more surprising...
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