On Truth: Living With Coal
"No other fuel matches its promise of cheap and abundant energy for development. About half the electricity in the United States comes from burning coal. Germany, the anchor of old Europe’s economy, is a coal country. Poland, the heart of new Europe, gets 90 percent of its electricity from coal. The fast-growing economies of Asia, in particular China and India, are all coal-fired. Indeed, while the outlook for coal consumption in the industrialized world is flat, soaring Asian growth is expected nearly to double world consumption by 2030"
"In fact, as with oil markets, trading of
coal derivatives in European markets has surpassed trade of the physical
commodity. Global
coal markets are forcing some rethinking about “energy security.” According to conventional wisdom,
.... Only a few companies can master the materials and engineering needed for such plants, but the good
news is that the market for power plant technology is truly global, so wherever governments have investor-friendly policies in place"