[Original article can be found at this link: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Coal-Use-Hits-Record-High-Despite-Clean-Energy-Boom.html]
Note: although I get the sense that this author wrote this article largely to "fill space", it does raise the important macro socio-economic question --- which has been raised by many … time and again --- regarding the anticipated widespread application of electrification, and, the necessary attendant massive consumption of Cu and other metallic minerals. [By the way: although the phrase is used in this article --- and in so many uncountable instances, elsewhere --- there is no such animal as "clean energy"; truly, an oxymoron.]
Excerpt from article is as follows:
Coal Use Hits Record High
Despite Clean Energy Boom
By Haley Zaremba - Aug 04, 2023, 6:00 PM CDT
Coal use reached a record high of 8.3 billion metric tons in 2022, providing about 36% of the world's electricity generation, despite an uptick in the demand for clean energy sources.
As global economies grappled with energy security following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China and India responded by boosting their coal industries, which overshadowed a decrease in coal usage in the United States and the European Union.
Transitioning India and China away from coal is estimated to cost around a trillion dollars, but it is crucial for achieving global emission goals; however, political complications and the countries' relationships with coal make this task daunting ...
[See above link for remainder of article.]