German Handelsblatt: Coal Energy Worldwide Is Booming… “Phaseout Nowhere Near In Sight”

The online German business daily Handelsblatt here writes that although Germany is pressing ahead to eliminate coal as a primary source of energy, the country ignores the fact that world is still very much in love with the plentiful and reliable fossil fuel source of energy.

Coal phaseout nowhere near in sight

And since Germany is well into phasing out nuclear power, the focus has switched to vilifying and shutting down coal-fired power plants and diesel vehicles – all in the name of stopping global warming and fine particle pollution.

Yet, the rest of the globe hardly shares Germany’s enthusiasm when it comes to transitioning to green energies. According to the Handelsblatt, “Worldwide the phasing out of coal is nowhere in sight.”

The Handelsblatt adds, “The 120 largest coal companies have around 1400 new power plants in planning or even under construction in 59 countries.”

1.5°C target will be missed by far

That would translate into the “currently installed capacity growing by a third,” the Handelsblatt writes.

Globally coal power continues to be added. According to environmental activist Heffa-Schücking: “We are going to greatly miss the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.”

Cheating China

Meanwhile some green activists have been trumpeting the claim that China in fact is halting the construction of coal power plants and aiming more and more to go green, parading China as a country whose example we need to follow.

However, qz.com here reports that this claim is likely a sham, and that many of these “halted” plants “are being built anyway”.

Citing CoalSwarm, a global network of researchers tracking fossil-fuel infrastructure, an analysis of satellite imagery as of July 2018 shows that the construction of some 75 plants “is still proceeding, despite the government orders”.

QZ.com reports:

China has been consuming as much as 17 percent more coal each year than reported, according to the new government figures. By some initial estimates, that could translate to almost a billion more tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere annually in recent years, more than all of Germany emits from fossil fuels.”

Clearly the German effort is not going lead the planet anywhere, except perhaps sending a signal about the economic and national security perils of going green.

Moreover, the Handelsblatt reports that China “is  exporting coal technology on a grand scale to other countries as well. Currently they are involved in projects in 17 countries that have capacity of about 60 gigawatts.”

That amount to is equivalent to Germany’s total electric power demand.

15 responses to “German Handelsblatt: Coal Energy Worldwide Is Booming… “Phaseout Nowhere Near In Sight””

  1. Kurt in Switzerland

    BP reports that coal use for power production is the same percentage of the total mix today as it was 20 y ago, despite all the anti-coal propaganda.

    Per the EIA, coal use worldwide grew by 18.5 quadrillion BTU from 2010-2017, or at a faster percentage growth rate than the total energy consumption.

    Coal is here to stay, firmly in second place behind oil and other liquids, but ahead of natural gas. All fossil fuels combined account for 82.7% of total worlwide energy consumption.

  2. Bitter&twisted

    Fossil fuels are simply concentrated, stored sunlight.
    What could be better?😇

  3. Penelope

    I think the intention is to raise the standard of living for “developing” countries, especially China, through cheap energy.
    And to lower that of the developed countries through raising the cost of energy. In this way, global living standards can by more nearly equalized, which is thought to make easier the merging of nations into a one-world global oligarchic govt.

    And of course reducing the standard of living in developed countries reduces the ability of educated populations to resist the global juggernaut.

  4. John F. Hultquist

    Peabody Energy — resurgent after Barry O left town — is in the news. Search the name with ‘coal’ and ‘buys’ in your string.

    It is great to see CO2 increasing to a safer level. Green plants are happy.

  5. spike55

    This is MARVELOUS NEWS.

    With human contribution to the highly beneficial rise in atmospheric CO2 causing some 150% of the rise 😉 that means that there will be PLENTY of plant food for the continued GREENING of the world, and feeding the expanding human population..

    The anti-CO2, anti-plantlife agenda has FAILED UTTERLY.

    And if by some fantasy fizzics, CO2 does actually cause some minor warming, (no real evidence of that) all the better for staving of the coming of the next major ice age. 🙂

    Everything is WIN, WIN, WIN when we use the sequestered carbon that should actually be in the shorter term carbon cycle.

    All that wonderful energy-dense natural storage available just when humans need to for PROGRESS.

    If one were a religious person, one would have to think it was part of HIS/HER great plan.

    1. Yonason

      “The anti-CO2, anti-plantlife agenda has FAILED UTTERLY.” – spike55

      Yes to that and all the rest, but I would just add that they are anti-CO2 and anti-plant life because at their core they are anti-human.

  6. Brian G Valentine

    That is water vapor from the hyperbolic cooling tower – that’s all it could be.

    Camera filtering of the light made it appear like smoke

    1. spike55

      No, No, Brian,

      EVERY AGW apologists KNOWS it is massive CO2 output spewing from dirty black coal. 😉

      1. Brian G Valentine

        It was nice of them to install a couple of bird killing machines right nearby.

        Green press can report “wildlife is being destroyed on coal electricity property”

  7. Yonason

    Someday you’ll be sorry you made fun of ruinables!
    http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/RenewableInvestment3-1.png

    “Coal phaseout nowhere near in sight”

    It will take a while to get people used to living without the essential comforts of civilization.
    http://www.cfact.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Cartoon-Sitting-in-the-dark.jpghttp://www.cfact.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Cartoon-Sitting-in-the-dark.jpg

  8. Yonason

    Yup. Looks like we’re on a roll?
    https://climatescience.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-roll-back-of-green-energy-is.html

    “Renewables and the high electricity rates they ushered in drove individuals into energy poverty and led industry to flee, putting the lie to the claim that wind and solar are the fuels of the future. Wind and solar, rather, have become the fossils of the energy industry; oil, gas and coal remain the fuels of the future.”

    WOO HOO!

    Let’s all just keep on winning!

  9. Yonason

    One more reason to get rid of those bird and bat abattoirs, courtesy of John Ray.

    “Two Harvard scientists have just done the most careful modelling yet of what effects wind turbines have. They find that, for the next century, wind turbines will INCREASE warming rather than decrease it.

    (from his commentary to 1st article here)
    https://antigreen.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-climate-prophets-finally-get-some.html

    That and triple my electric bill and decrease reliability as well? Oh, wow! How could anyone resist?!

  10. mwhite

    “The European Commission has given up plans to ramp up Europe’s 40% emissions reduction goal for 2030 to 45%”

    http://www.thegwpf.com/germany-wins-climate-battle-eu-commission-abandons-plans-for-new-2030-climate-goal/

  11. greensand

    ‘Coal plants set to generate highest profits in years as cost of gas spikes’

    “Britain will rely on its dwindling fleet of ageing coal-fired power plants as it prepares to face the coldest winter weather in a decade and the cost of gas hits new highs.

    The country’s seven remaining coal plants will be called on more than in previous winters because for the first time in years they are as economic to run as gas-fired power plants, even as global coal prices hit five-year highs.

    The cost of gas for this winter reached 10-year highs above 81 pence a therm last week, up by more than half from the previous winter when the average price was less than 50p a therm. The average wholesale gas price last motnh was the biggest percentage increase for two years, according to S&P Global Platts data.

    As a result the market price for electricity in the darkest months of the year climbed by more than half to over £70 per megawatt hour from less than £45.

    Soaring market prices have raised fears for cash-strapped families as the extreme cold threatens to bring Britain’s coldest winter in a decade…..”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/10/06/coal-plants-set-generate-highest-profits-years-cost-gas-spikes/

    Quite how Silly Jilly can suggest we are to experience Britain’s coldest winter in a decade is anybody’s guess. Time will tell

  12. spike55

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