Guest essay by Eric Worrall

According to The Guardian, coal use will have to collapse in the 2020s if we are to combat the climate crisis.

Carbon emissions fall as electricity producers move away from coal

Global emissions down by 2% amid mild winter and reduced use of coal-fired power plants

Jillian Ambrose and Simon Goodley
Mon 9 Mar 2020 17.01 AEDT

Carbon emissions from the global electricity system fell by 2% last year, the biggest drop in almost 30 years, as countries began to turn their backs on coal-fired power plants.

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The report from climate thinktank Ember, formerly Sandbag, warned that the dent in the world’s coal-fired electricity generation relied on many one-off factors, including milder winters across many countries.

“Progress is being made on reducing coal generation, but nothing like with the urgency needed to limit climate change,” the report said.

Dave Jones, the lead author of the report, said governments must dramatically accelerate the electricity transition so that global coal generation collapses throughout the 2020s.

“To switch from coal into gas is just swapping one fossil fuel for another. The cheapest and quickest way to end coal generation is through a rapid rollout of wind and solar,” he said.

“But without concerted policymaker efforts to boost wind and solar, we will fail to meet climate targets. China’s growth in coal, and to some extent gas, is alarming but the answers are all there.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/09/carbon-emissions-fall-as-electricity-producers-move-away-from-coal

The report is available here.

Interesting that cheap solar and wind still seems to need so much government help.