, Columnist
The Energy Transition Is Powered By — Wait for It — Coal
Electricity consumption is accelerating faster than renewable sources can provide for it. And so the world keeps turning to the dirtiest of fossil fuels.
The dirty stuff.
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In what should be one of the least surprising developments, global electricity demand is soaring everywhere as the world moves to electrify everything. Out go gasoline cars, in come electric vehicles; out go gas boilers, in come heat pumps; and so on and so forth. That’s the energy transition.
There’s a catch, however. As demand for power goes up faster than renewables can supply, the world is turning to a time-tested source to produce it: coal.