Coal power to hit all time high in 2022 says IEA weeping

h.t Andy May

So much for the End of Coal

It’s a bumper year in 2021, a bigger year in 2022, and possibly more glorious records for coal in 2023 and 2024. Humans burnt more coal last year than at any other time in history.

Coal-fired power generation is set to reach an all-time high in 2021

The declines in global coal-fired power generation in 2019 and 2020 led to expectations that it might have peaked in 2018. But 2021 dashed those hopes. With electricity demand outpacing low-carbon supply, and with steeply rising natural gas prices, global coal power generation is on course to increase by 9% in 2021 to 10 350 terawatt-hours (TWh) – a new all-time high.

As the IEA concludes through gritted teeth: Global coal consumption is not on the Net Zero trajectory and is unlikely to be before 2024. Perhaps someone should tell all the Glasgow Minions?

Other editors might have labelled this, “Coal Still Vital” or “Coal’s Day is Here”! Instead the IEA saw a sedate plateauing that kept plateuing in the headlines:

IEA, Global Coal Use, 2021. Graph.

Fully two-thirds of global coal is used by just two countries. The other 193 nations split the last third. Many of these other nations are the same ones fighting  hard to make tiny reductions in their coal use in the quest for fashionable weather-purity.

Indeed, one third of all the coal on Earth is used to make electricity in China

Power generation in China alone is responsible for almost one-third
of global coal consumption. No other sector in any other country –
or any other fuel – has a comparable influence on global trends.

Communist planning still doesn’t work

In the third quarter of 2021, an imbalance between coal supply and demand became apparent when coal producers were unable to keep up with surging demand (see also the Supply chapter). The shortage’s effects were exacerbated by China’s rigid electricity tariff system. Because Chinese electricity prices are regulated, they do not follow coal prices. Therefore, as coal prices rose and electricity prices remained rigid (they could oscillate only 10% from the benchmark price, although this was reformed in October to allow a higher range), coal-fired power producers had no incentive to secure sufficient coal.

And then there was pain in China. Imagine power cuts and production losses of 70 – 80%? And these were not pandemic losses, just bad planning:

In mid-2021, China began to curtail industrial activity in some
provinces as coal supplies and imports were unable to keep up with
demand. In September, power rationing for industrial consumers
occurred in 20 provinces. In Guangdong province, for example,
manufacturers of ceramic products experienced power cuts of up to
70%, and Yunnan province ordered cement producers to cut
production by 80%. Similar measures – and even complete power cuts – affected aluminium, steel and other energy-intensive industries all over China. In Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, even residential consumers were affected as power supplies fell short of demand by as much as 20% at times.

“coal’s share of the global power mix in 2021 is expected to be 36%”

REFERENCE

Coal 2021, IEA, https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-2021, the press release.

9.8 out of 10 based on 85 ratings

143 comments to Coal power to hit all time high in 2022 says IEA weeping

  • #
    Don B

    If carbon dioxide were the climate control knob – but it isn’t – China, India and the rest of Asia are at the controls.

    The climate alarmists should stop hectoring those of us in the US, Australia, the UK and Europe.

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    • #
      PeterS

      Yes, the climate alarmists should stop hectoring those of us who know that it’s all a scam and a hoax but that won’t happen until our governments and big business admit they got it wrong. Good luck with that one.

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      • #
        Ted1

        Don’t lose sight of the fact that “we” got it wrong when “we” gave Clive Palmer the balance of power in our senate.

        He then assigned that balance of power to Al Gore. Why?

        That action marked for all the world the transition of the CAGW scam from a hopeful hypothesis to established reality.

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        • #
          PeterS

          I think most of us know by now that all politicians are not to be trusted. So, the solution to our woes is not going to be through political means. That I can be sure of.

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          • #

            I think they can be trusted to do what they need to keep their seats. With luck “more energy” will become the new political movement. Along these lines:

            https://www.cfact.org/2022/01/07/energy-anguish-hits-britain/

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            • #
              Doc

              So far David, the politicians have gone along with the amped up environmentalist’s shouting that we are all doomed to fry. Enough people believe it and are fearful, so they tolerate the current instability in the energy system and the rising costs.

              There is little realisation, it seems, that much of those costs are being paid to subsidise the better off with their rooftop panels and the already very wealthy who get wealthier by building the wind and solar farms for big profits and the government. There was better energy fairness in costs and keeping the lights on when governments owned the energy assets and the cost of energy was more tightly controlled because the life of politicians in government depended on it.

              It’s like climate change theory. Many people simply believe the world is overpopulated; therefore
              AGW has legs. They have to do their bit to help the planet. It’s not a belief open to scientific argument. It’s an act of faith in their own logic. It doesn’t change until a rethink is forced on people by a disaster such as happened in Texas with the big freeze.

              When people hurt enough they then look for villains and become receptive to the alternate view of scientific reality. The Australian Federal government, I believe, understand this and realise they have pushed the energy debate against coal too far in seeking to green votes. They are mucking around using gas to keep face and the lights on. When gas becomes unavailable because government believes we, the producers don’t have the right to preserve our own share against the world market, then things will blow and people wake up.

              I can’t get my head around the number of people with a science or mathematics and statistical training that actually really believe the AGW theory as fact. The hardest one to understand is an American relative by marriage with a deep training in maths, quantum theory and nuclear physics who believes in AGW. Do people forget their own expertise and not apply it to these mandated theories produced by activists with their own targets to satisfy? He has no irons in the fire with AGW where funding might interfere.

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              • #
                Kalm Keith

                Thanks Doc; well worth reading.

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              • #
                PeterS

                Yes, thanks Doc for a dose of reality, which is rare these days even by many people who do not believe in the CAGW scam but somehow think we will escape the mess in a peaceful and orderly manner. Reality bites, and in today’s circumstances the bite will be extremely painful. There will be no soft landing.

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              • #
                PeterPetrum

                Yes, I have a daughter who is a world-leading astrophysicist who holds an academic position in one of the US leading universities and heads up a team of top NASA scientists. She gets vitriolic if I try to discuss the role of CO2 in temperature control. She is absolutely convinced that it is the “control knob”. Perhaps her earlier work on the atmosphere of Venus has squeed her thinking? Or perhaps her multimillion dollar funding depends on her “belief”.

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              • #
                Philo

                Spot on Doc!
                A technical education makes you effective. You have to be smart to make it work.
                SMART can be taught but it has to start early and people have to exercise it every day.
                One key to smart is to NEVER hang your beliefs on one idea, such as CO2 warming.
                Despite the propaganda it’s never been proven in any real, honest way.

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        • #
          Jonesy

          That was a very sad day in our political history when Palmer took the stand with Gore at his side. What backroom deal was done and why was Abbott such a world target?

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        • #
          Dennis

          Forgotten by 99 per cent of voters by now.

          And the latest fans calling for voters to support Palmer’s UAP at the next Federal Election.

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          • #
            Dennis

            Maybe also forgotten is the turn around from being a strong supporter of the Queensland Newman LNP Government to opposing them?

            After the LNP defeated Labor in Queensland and formed government their prominent supporter asked for business support favours and was told that support would be considered but any submission must be done officially through the relevant government departments and procedural requirements.

            The friend turned into a fierce political opponent.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        PeterS,

        one of the main problems is kids are being brainwashed re global warming/climate change from pre school/kindy/primary/high school/Uni – I have seen it through 9 Grandchildren – only 16 year old is starting to be a sceptic, but he also thinks the Sun shines out of Dictator Dan’s rear orifice

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        • #
          Mantaray Yunupingu

          Oldie. Here’s the reason that fossil fuels will rule for almost ever….

          Say today’s power needs are 100 units, of which 5% are renewables = 5 units, and in 10 years time power needs are 200 units.And also say renewables leap magically to 20% of that total…

          So, in 10 years there’ll have been a 300% increase in renewables as a percentage and 700% in absolute terms (20% of 200 = 40, where it was 5).

          Stupendous increases, yet the 40 units of renewables leaves 160 non-renewables = 65 units more than the current 95.

          Thus, despite the 35 extra units of renewables (5 now vs 40 in a decade’s time), non-renewables are up by almost double that (65).

          How will renewables EVER catch that fast-increasing total and turn it around?

          Hmmmm. Depopulation of the planet to stop increases in power-needs altogether, maybe?

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        • #
          Doc

          OldOzzie, It’s the old adage of the Jesuits: Give me the child and I will give you the adult (paraph.). The march of the left through the institutions includes the education system of the youngest pupils – these days that’s down to 4year old preschoolers getting indoctrinated. We oldies have seen this in action for 50years; tolerated it and did nothing. Now look how far that has gone these days. How did our governments, especially conservatives ever let the left become so ensconced in controlling what our kids would be taught? We were so naive, thinking teachers would just have curriculums teaching the usual and expected subjects. We should have woken up when maths began getting taught by sticks and the youngest were at school being left to their own resources to fill their days.

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          • #
            OldOzzie

            maths began getting taught by sticks

            I would have been useless as totally colour blind – re Jesuits, 10 year old at Jesuit school was showing his calaculator for year 5 last night and said he would continue to try and use his brains rather than calculator

            Suprised him by answering 40 x 334 faster than him on calaculator – said simple 12000+1200+160 – brain still working

            But they are gung-ho on climate change

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    • #
      Ronin

      Old King Coal, just keeps merrily rolling along.

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    • #

      In the third quarter of 2021, an imbalance between coal supply and demand became apparent

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  • #
    Neville

    Unless Fusion power romps in very quickly or perhaps modular nukes or whatever, there’ll be no rapid change by 2050.
    Coal will still be a popular choice + gas etc for decades and TOXIC S & W will be relegated to a very minor part, but hopefully govts will wake up and ditch these unreliable disasters soon.
    Why would any responsible govt choose these unreliable energy sources over our proven fossil fuels or nukes?
    If the energy source isn’t reliable BASE-LOAD energy we should forget about it ASAP.

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    • #
      TedM

      “Coal will still be a popular choice + gas etc for decades”…
      But not here in Australia, we would rather die of thirst so that the neighbors can water their lawn.

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  • #
    Geoffrey+Williams

    The world burns coal because we have to, simple as that.
    Without it we could not exist . .

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    • #
      Klem

      We could always burn whale oil, and just picture those juicy whale ribs on the BBQ. Whoa!

      Better than fried meal worms thats for sure.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        Mosman was named after Archibald Mosman who established a whaling station at Mosman Bay, hence the whale being the Council’s emblem with the harbour aspect reflected in the motto, ‘Tutus in Undis’ – ‘in safe water’.

        Settlement history

        European settlement of the area dates from 1802 when a harbour defence battery was built at Georges Head, although development was slow due to rugged terrain and limited access. A whaling station was established in Mosman Bay in the 1830s, with the whaling industry declining in the 1840s and industries such as candle making and wool-washing taking over. Until the 1880s subdivisions were largely unsuccessful and land was used mainly for farming and orcharding. Some growth occurred in the 1880s and 1890s, aided by new roads, regular ferry services and the establishment of artists’ camps. The population in 1893 was 1,600. Considerable growth took place in the interwar period, spurred by improvements in transport and access. The most significant development occurred in the post-war years, especially during the 1960s. The population was relatively stable between 1991 and 2006 at around 25,000 people, and then increased gradually to about 28,000 people in 2016.

        And to put into perspective potential wokeness Mosman – Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage
        Mosman Municipal Council’s small areas and benchmark areas

        The percentile column indicates the approximate position of this small area in a ranked list of Australia’s suburbs and localities. It’s meant to give an indication of where the area sits within the whole nation. A higher number indicates a higher socio-economic status. For instance, a percentile of 72 indicates that approximately 72% of Australia’s suburbs have a SEIFA index lower than this area (more disadvantaged), while 28% are higher.

        Mosman Council Area 99%

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    • #
      Mantaray Yunupingu

      Had a few gene-jabs lately? Or maybe heard of 90% of the population having had a few?

      Will “we” still exist in 2-3 years’ time to continue the burning?

      BTW: Like Jessie Owens 85 years ago, Novak Djokovic is the living proof that weird-science-true-believers are not super-humans at all. The reason the left, and all other gene-jabbers so hate him is that he is an untermensch (= sub-human) smashing all the gene-jabbers conceits that THEY are the superior “race”! Same as the contaminate-bloods cannot handle all those dating-sites (Tinder too; very exhausting) ending in “Pure-bloods ONLY”…..poor sad sack losers!

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  • #
    Dave of Reedy Creek, Qld.

    If every nation went to clean coal technology instead of defacing the countryside with monstrous, bird chopping wind turbines and farmland covered with solar panels we would all be better off. Plus we wouldn’t be so reliant on China.

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    • #
      Mike+Jonas

      In the west, coal-fired power stations are clean. Only in the warped minds of the greenies is coal dirty in the clean west but given a free pass in the scrubber-free east.

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    • #
      Dennis

      The renewables investment industry players or crony capitalists backed the Greens and Labor for a while hoping to influence them to support more unreliable renewable energy projects, electric vehicles, emissions trading and other wealth creation schemes based on climate hoax.

      And now and since the 2019 Federal Election they are backing candidates masquerading as Independents hoping to influence outcomes if their candidates are elected.

      It reminds me of the NSW State Labor “Independents” supported by Labor via Minister Obeid, two of them changed to Federal Parliament as Independents and were recruited by Rudd Labor and later supported Gillard Labor to form a minority alliance government in 2010.

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  • #
    Wet Mountains

    In general, man is fundamentally lazy, and at the same time greedy. I remember seeing my grandmother washing clothes on a scrub board, rinsing, and hanging them on a line to dry. Took most of a day. She canned corn, beets, tomatoes, turnips, made sauerkraut, canned peaches, pears, apples. Took days, weeks each summer. Today we throw our clothes in a washer, go watch TV, come back in an hour, throw them in the drier and we’re done. The hardest part of eating corn is opening the can.
    My point is, we sure have it good now days. And it all takes energy. More each day. Energy to make the washing machine and drier, energy to run them, energy to plant the tons of corn seed required to produce the millions of tons of corn so a factory can put it (cooked already) in a can, so we can exert ourselves opening it. Until we change our lifestyle, our need for energy is going to continue to increase. We talk a good game, but no one wants to go back to scrub boards.

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    • #
      PeterS

      One can understand why there are some who truly believe the world’s population needs to be cul1ed. Their ev1l intentions becomes clear once we imagine say 7 billion people having the same living standards as us Westerners. It would require a huge increase in power generation, making renewables totally useless and pointless. Hence, we would require a much bigger reliance on fossil fuel and nuclear power sources, which would all be satisfactory except the ev1l elite don’t want that. Hence the push to dep0pulate the world. Such is ev1l – total lack of respect for human life.

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      • #

        Wind and solar cannot provide sufficient energy to suppot even the current demand, let alone the demand from a increasing standard of living worldwide.
        It should be obvious to any logical thinker that the planet cannot sustain the entire population at the living standard that the top 20% minority currently enjoy, …let alone any further increase in population.
        However, controlling and even reducing the population does not have to be a evil genocidal plan,..it can be achieved by encouraging a reduced birth rate ( are you listening Perrottet ?) .. and allowing natural life ending causes do their thing naturally.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Today we throw our clothes in a washer, go watch TV, come back in an hour, throw them in the drier and we’re done.

      We have a Dryer from 1972 which we used to dry cloth nappies after being soaked in Napisan then washed and only used when raining and unable to hang out on line

      We would be lucky if we have used that dryer once in the last 5 years, but it still works

      Thankfully Sydney is a great place to dry clothes outdoors.

      Re your my grandmother washing clothes on a scrub board we had an external laundry with big boiler tub and washboard and roller and wooden stir pole/stick to create washing action late40s/early 50s

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      • #

        My early recolections of a washing machine was an outdoor , wood fueled large , (50 ltr ?) open pot boiler..(known as the “Copper” ..since it was made of copper ). .. with the wood stirring pole and the “washboard” for stubborn dirt. Drying was a matter of “wringing” the clothes by hand, and hoping for a good drying breeze in the back yard. Some years later the stand alone, wooden roller “ mangle” eliminated the wringing process !.
        Hard work and an all day job for mother in a family of 5 .

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        • #
          Annie

          I remember having the mangle to squeeze the water from the washing before hanging it on the long clothesline to dry. My mother’s method of the time which was heavy work with 6 children. Life improved for her with a Thor Automagic washing machine which used to dance around the floor if the load was unbalanced.
          We haven’t had a drier for over 10 years; sold our last one in Gloucestershire, managed a couple of years in Yorkshire without (outside washing line, inside on a clothes horse) and decided against ever having another on our return to Australia. Most drying is on the old Hills Hoist, otherwise on a clothes horse inside.
          Reminds me of DIL when she and our son were living in Perth. I’d washed my hair and she offered me the choice of hair dryers, one electric and one on the verandah called the Fremantle Doctor!

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        • #
          BriantheEngineer

          Those weren’t the days

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          • #

            Oh, i dont know… as a kid in the 50s 60s,.. i had a pretty good time despite no TV or car .. fond memories of hot summers in the river and long winters with 1-2 mts of snow to play in.
            No Covid or AGW concerns back then !

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            • #
              OldOzzie

              Slingshots, Air Rifles, used bearings from BMC Cremorne to make billycarts, going out to meet Milk Horse and Cart and using measures to take milk from tank to Billy Cans, Peerless Bakery Horse and Cart delivering fresh bread – roaming the bush around Primrose Park, Sled with runners on slime in open storm water channel that went under roads, and agreed, no TV or Car

              No snow in Cremorne

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              • #
                Great+Aunt+Janet

                “Jumpers for goalposts” 🙂

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              • #
                RexAlan

                Thanks everyone, reminds me of this.

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE

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              • #
                RexAlan

                Thought I would also post this:-

                Going green:

                VChecking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.

                The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”

                The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

                The older lady said that she was right — our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day. The older lady went on to explain:

                Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.

                Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then.

                We walked up stairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the “green thing” in our day.

                Back then we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.

                Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity But she’s right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

                We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

                Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the “green thing.” We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

                But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?

                Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person.

                We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to pi** us off… Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can’t make change without the cash register telling them how much.

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              • #
                Wet Mountains

                RexAlan, isn’t it ironic, we started using plastic bags in stores because we were cutting down the forest to make paper bags, a completely renewable and biodegradable resource. Went to plastic to save the planet. Now plastic is killing the planet, the oceans are filled with it. But we do love our conveniences, and will not tolerate being inconvenienced

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        • #
          Lawrie

          Don’t forget the blue bag to whiten the linens. I can see my mum on a hot day with the copper boiling and the roiling action of the water acting very like a washing machine. The big advantage was the lack of rinsing since water on our farm was very limited. Sheets first and dad’s work clothes last. We sometimes bathed the same way; kids then mum then dad.

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      • #
        Adellad

        Sydney is the worst of the big cities in that regard – it is by far the wettest

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  • #
    Phillip Sweeney

    Basic economics of supply and demand will trump the fantasy of a “Transaition to renewables” (aka unreliables) at the end of the day.

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    • #
      Dave in the States

      The plan is not to get everybody powered by RE, it is to make energy use, from any source, too expensive for all but the very elites to afford.

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      • #
        Doc

        Dave. Part of the ‘big reset’ where mankind is to be so happy at owning nothing (the then ‘State’will own everything)
        and all decisions will be made for us by the all knowing, infallible State. One can hardly believe an intelligent
        person, part of running the EU, could evermake such a statement in public. But one did! The big reset was even mentioned in passing on the Fox News this morning. These are the dreamers we actually elect these days. Unbelievable.

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  • #
    TdeF

    There are two distinct markets for coal, steel making and heating. And Australian metallurgical coal is in great demand and commands a higher price. With thermal coal, our greatest competitor and equally large exporter is Indonesia, but they have just limited coal exports because of a shortage at home. Coal is in play world wide. China needs our metallurgical coal and our coal is selling for 3x the value now that they have cancelled the contracts. Talk about an own goal!

    I just did a quick calculation in BTU and Price. Oil is $1443 for a ton and 103million BTU while coal is $136 a ton for 28Mbtu. So coal is a tenth of the price per ton but also 1/3 of the energy. It still means oil is 3x the price of coal per unit energy. So of course everyone wants coal. It’s just far cheaper. And brown coal is almost the same as black coal because the only major difference is that brown coal is 2/3 water. Squeeze out the water and they are comparable.
    We expected to run out of oil around the world, but the other sources of gas, coal and shale through fracking seem far greater than ever.

    What is a puzzle is that fracking is reviled as dangerous, when there is not a single case around the world of leakage in millions of wells.

    But universally leftist democratic governments have raced to ban oil, pipelines, coal, nuclear, fracking and even exploration and mining and in Victoria, forestry or even picking up sticks. And the question is why? It cannot be saving the planet. Carbon emissions is a fake metric as the carbon dioxide has proven to do only good and all predictions have proven false.

    Victoria has hundreds of years of brown coal and we are dismantling fully functional working power stations with an infinite lifespan to replace them with expensive, unserviceable, uncontrollable replaceables. And like factories, such power stations with maintenance can be kept running forever, unlike windmills and solar farms.

    So what’s the agenda? What are Premier Daniel Andrews’ Chinese minders ordering? They don’t want us wasting their coal?

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      Seen a report recently that Indonesia has suspended or curtailed exports of coal because of a big wet season and they are struggling to keep up with their own domestic demand .

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      • #
        Graeme No.3

        There is also a price consideration; the Indonesian government reserved a share of the thermal coal for use in Indonesia but capped the price the miners could charge. With the big jump in coal prices on the export market many miners rushed to get that price, Then Nature caused rain.

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    • #
      WXcycles

      … unserviceable, uncontrollable replaceables.

      … unserviceable, uncontrollable unreplaceables.

      FIFY

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      • #
        TdeF

        Yes, I mean it in the sense that they are renewables which have to be entirely replaced, an utter waste. $6Billion a year hidden in our electricity bills and handed free to the enemies of coal is buying nothing long term. A complete and utter waste of our money, not the Government’s money. All run by the gnomes of Canberra who make tens of millions a year with their own windmills, for which we all paid.

        The 2001 Renewable Energy(Electricity) Act know as the RET is not a tax, it is legalized theft which cunningly refuses the handle the money given to the friends of the bureaucrats of Canberra who designed this appalling robbery. And the renewables certificate game has been copied in the UK. I have to say that even the politicians have no idea how they are the enablers of this continuing robbery as they keep talking about a carbon tax!

        It was a cunning plan to have the world’s biggest carbon tax, but not a tax because the government never sees the money. Magna Carta was about stopping Royal power forcing people to pay friends of the government. Someone needs to challenge this robbery in the High Court as it exceeds the legal power of any Westminster based government. And has spawned many QANGOS in the Australian Government, all making money by robbing Australians under the umbrella of ‘Clean Energy’, which is nonsense. The idea the carbon dioxide is pollution, dangerous emissions is an outrageous non science lie. The world is utterly dependent on both Carbon Dioxide and on cheap energy. And the smug mandarins of Canberra hate both.

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        • #
          TdeF

          The United States has the same disease. The states increasingly delegate power to Washington or Washington legislates to seize it, now demanding to handle state elections. And the Congress delegates this power to the executive branch including the President.

          So we have the unelected, unaccountable Federal EPA for example heavily penalizing farmers because they have decided they do not like farmers or farming or their use of water. Democracy does not work when power is in the hands of the unelected. As with the FBI investigating parents as criminals if they dare to object to their children being indoctrinated in Systemic Racism or BLM or Transvestite mania. The governments of Australia and the United States should be by the people, not the bureaucrats. And the EU and UN are even worse, both with their dreams of control over the lives of all their subjects. And Green power is just the lever they use.

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          • #
            WXcycles

            We’re in perfect agreement on all.

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            KP

            What did you think we were going to do with the people we were putting out of work with increases in productivity 100 years ago??

            We went from farmers being the biggest occupation on the tax form to factory worker and now its truck driver.

            We were going to work 2 or three days a week in the 1970s, with lots of leisure time to be creative.

            Instead all we have done is increase the number of parasites employed by the Govt! Every decade without fail the Govt employs more people for completely useless work that hinders the private sector. They do not help, except the tiny minority of their friends and lobbyists, they are a negative on society as a whole.

            Wait until they are all snug and secure in their 65storey apartment blocks in giant cities when no-one is allowed a freehold house, robots are making everything we need and bureaucrats outnumber everyone else! Its a great future to watch coming!

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  • #
    Neville

    Another accurate “fossil fuel summary” from Climate Change Dispatch. And the clueless Biden loony has had to quickly reverse his fossil fuel phobia and has actually begged for more FFs and released more from the US reserves. Here’s the summary and the link.

    https://climatechangedispatch.com/climate-industrial-complex-left-clueless-as-fossil-fuels-proliferate/

    Climate Industrial Complex Left Clueless As Fossil Fuels Proliferate

    “It has been a little more than a month since the United Nations climate meeting at Glasgow, yet global use of fossil fuels has increased rapidly.

    For instance, U.S. President Joe Biden canceled domestic oil projects and vowed to stop funding for international fossil fuel projects.

    But as fuel prices rose, Biden responded to his self-induced energy insecurity by releasing 50 million barrels of oil reserves and even called for an increase in domestic oil production.

    Within a span of a few months, the U.S. president went from being a climate savior to a climate villain. Though many may classify his actions as temporary solutions (to a non-existent problem), the rest of the world sees through the veneer of climate politics and the hypocrisy within.

    There is nothing that the climate industrial complex can do about the situation in the U.S. or other parts of the world. In fact, in Asia, the production of fossil fuels is proliferating.

    India and China Goes Full Throttle on Coal

    As climate doomsayers met in November in Glasgow for the annual U.N. meeting, Asian political leaders promoted policies that sought to increase fossil fuel production — largely because of lessons learned from acute coal shortages in India and China earlier in the year.

    The Indian government has opened more coal mines and has allocated new mines to private players through auctions. India’s coal minister has asked the government’s coal production arm, Coal India Limited, to meet an annual target of 1 billion tonnes by 2024.

    Meanwhile, China is taking similar measures to ensure its coal supply. Coal production for November hit record highs as Beijing scrambled to ensure enough of the fuel to meet winter needs.

    October 2021 witnessed the highest monthly production since March 2015. Overall, the first 11 months of this year accounted for 3.67 billion tonnes of coal, which is 4.2% higher than 2020.

    Though India and China have managed to overcome the recent shortage in coal reserves, domestic production must be complemented by imports. Hence, the price of coal from Australia and Indonesia remains high.

    With the Omicron variant expected to have only a minimal impact on the economy, we can expect sustained demand for coal through 2022.

    Oil Futures on a High and India Cashes In on Imports

    India is also keen on securing its oil sources as OPEC has forecasted a high global demand in 2022. Oil from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq were bought in large quantities by Asian countries.

    India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas reported that the country would acquire “massive additional areas for oil exploration and production” by 2025.

    “As far as the government of India is concerned, we are going to step on the accelerator in terms of exploration and production in a very big way,” said the minister in November.

    A UAE firm owned by India’s richest man is all set to import crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemical products in December. The country’s major state-owned oil firms and refineries have already secured supply for the first half of 2022.

    Gas prices at fuel stations remained high in India throughout the year. However, the federal government intervened by releasing millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves, prices have come down drastically.

    Meanwhile, the country’s aviation minister has made an open call to states to reduce jet fuel prices in order to “increase air traffic.”

    So, if anyone is thinking that fossil fuels are dead, they should think again. The 2.6 billion people in India and China will continue to use fossil fuels as their primary energy source until 2070. Even the most advanced European and Scandinavian countries are witnessing a revival of the fossil fuel sector.

    It is as if the anti-fossil climate conference never happened this year. As if promises to end fossil fuels are nothing but vapors from the incense offered at the altar of climate drama — only to be consumed by an inescapable energy reality.”

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    • #
      TdeF

      Those reserves exist because of Donald Trump. He was pilloried for building up the strategic reserves as a total waste of money. Now Biden is selling them as fast as he can, leaving the US doubly vulnerable and at the mercy of OPEC. As with all on the extreme Left of politics, you have to ask why he is obviously crippling his country just as Daniel Andrews is crippling Victoria. Who is really in charge? Certainly not the doddering geriatric who cannot remember who he is.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      But as fuel prices rose, Biden responded to his self-induced energy insecurity by releasing 50 million barrels of oil reserves and even called for an increase in domestic oil production.

      Biden administration plans restrictions on oil and gas leasing in Alaska

      The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management intends to block leasing on a large share of oil- and gas-rich federal lands in Alaska, a move that accords with the Biden administration’s strategy of scaling back fossil fuel production in an attempt to mitigate climate change.

      In a Monday court filing, the BLM said it would return management of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to a plan established during President Barack Obama’s tenure, leaving some 52% (or 11.8 million acres) of the reserve open to oil and gas leasing.

      Under former President Donald Trump, the BLM sought to expand to 18.6 million acres, or 82% of the reserve, the amount of the reserve’s lands available for oil and gas leasing. Environmental groups subsequently sued.

      BLM said in a press release the decision “reflects the Biden-Harris administration’s priority of reviewing existing oil and gas programs to ensure balance on America’s public lands and waters to benefit current and future generations.”

      Meanwhile, Republicans have maintained that Biden’s strategy has set the oil and gas industry back, along with states that benefit from its economic activities, and added to the high energy prices consumers are facing.

      This is another sign of the federal government turning its back on Alaska and hampering domestic energy production,” Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office said Monday. “The U.S. Department of Interior is putting the nation in a situation where we have to rely on foreign oil … at a time for growing prices and concern for American consumers.”

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        They Know What’s Coming, White House Prepares for Terrible December Inflation Data with Prepared Script

        All of this inflation is being driven by policy. •[1] Energy policy (oil, gas leases nullified & pipelines cancelled) in combination with regulations targeting environmental impacts (CA ports emissions rules) is driving up energy costs. CORE inflation results from this. •[2] Fiscal policy by White House and legislature has been spending like drunken sailors, and that adds to a storm of •[3] monetary policy, with the Fed buying back the debt created by spending, and as a consequence devaluing the dollar currency.

        We are being gutted from the inside.

        You don’t accidentally stop pipelines, cancel oil leases, shut down refining capacity, change port regulations and then act surprised by saying: ‘whoopsie’ gasoline seems to be costing more? Duh! It’s a feature not a flaw. Many of the people behind Joe Biden are stupid, but they ain’t *THAT* stupid. They know what they are doing, but they have to pretend not to know things in order to avoid the tar and feathers.

        The downside of the White House achieving what they call “success” is unfortunately, by the time we reach that point we will have nothing left; we’re broke. Prices will finally level off, but the savings of Americans will have been depleted and wage growth will then take years to catch up.

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        • #
          TdeF

          And the rich are getting richer while the poor are being devastated. Especially black communities. All in the name of equality and black lives and socialism. The irony is that the black communities have no idea they are the target of BLM. And one of the founders has just bought her fourth house.

          100

  • #
    Analitik

    Time to invest in some “stranded assets”, methinks

    110

  • #
    Steve of Cornubia

    Running alongside our alleged enthusiasm for cutting emissions, there is a growing demand for literally everything to be powered. From egg whisks to garage doors, lawnmowers to clothes dryers. Heck, even the box my automatic watches live it is mains powered, to save me waving my arm around a few times whenever I wear one …

    Then there is the explosion in home entertainment devices – not just TVs but speakers in every room, gaming machines and home theatres. A close neighbour doesn’t even bother opening his own gates – he just presses ‘Open’ on his remote and good old coal does the rest. Bicycles have batteries. Joggers listen to music. Aircon is ubiquitous. Just about everything we do uses power. Got a ‘Smart Home’? Many do these days, and that just adds more power consumption.

    So, being a firm believer in the old adage, “Don’t listen to what a person says. Watch what they do.”

    I will therefore believe that people want lower emissions when they lower their emissions.

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  • #

    There’s something that acts as a bit of a pointer to all of this excess coal consumption.

    IF ….. IF ….. IF coal was supposedly dying, then those huge corporations that make the equipment for coal fired power plants would have got right out of the business many many years ago, companies that make turbines, generators, coal fired plant infrastructure, everything other than the turbines and generators, well, they would have deserted the business entirely yonks back.

    Well, they aren’t. In fact they are (excuse the pun here) powering ahead. True they have also diversified into making ‘stuff’ for the renewables, but that is just a small part of their business. Coal fired power is the core, and it is surging ahead, and it’s not just one company, it’s a number of them, and all of them are making shirtloads of money ….. from coal fired power.

    The research is even powering ahead when it comes to coal fired power equipment manufacturing.

    And here, I’m talking of billions and billions of dollars, all of it from coal fired power.

    Coal fired power has a long life ahead of it, and it’s fast becoming the World leader in power generation technology, and here I mean REAL power generation.

    Tony.

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    • #
      Dennis

      It would be interesting to know how many coal mine and related businesses have been sold by multi-national companies and shares sold by other investors like banks and superannuation businesses that are now trading as private companies (Pty Ltd) that do not need to publish annual reports.

      50

  • #
    Neville

    Another good summary from Rowan Dean about Klaus Schwab, Prince Charles etc and the WEF telling us “you will own nothing and you will be happy.” IOW you’d better bend your knee or we’ll make you.

    And these idiots are working overtime to demonize fossil fuels and demand that we use only the TOXIC UNRELIABLE S & W disasters. Unbelievable but true.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcAO4-o_4Ug

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Someone made an excellent comment on that video:

      Funny how the people that own the most are telling us we will be happy with nothing. Odd.

      230

      • #
        Neville

        Yes David and you have to laugh (or cry) when Rowan adds that the elites will own everything and be even happier.

        141

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    Lest we forget…..did anyone elect the IEA? Nope. It appears to be some 2-bit , UN junket organization

    So no one elected them, they have no say in anything, they have no clout.

    So…why should anyone care what they think?

    110

  • #
    David Maddison

    Even warmists love coal, or at least an artificial version of it.

    They are promoting “biochar” which is the politically correct name for charcoal.

    The idea is to grow things, then pyrolyse them in the normal manner of making charcoal, then bury it.

    This is a stable form of carbon which is alleged to pull “carbon” from the atmosphere to sequester indefinitely. A bit like artificial coal but doing what nature did millions of years ago.

    It doesn’t get more absurd than that. But I shouldn’t say that. Leftists see that statement as a challenge.

    100

    • #
      Analitik

      This was something Maaalcolm Turncoat was promoting when he was “leading” our country.

      It does make more sense than the carbon offsetting via tree plantations alone since WTF do the greentards thinks happens once a plantation is mature? But only if you accept the CAGW concept as valid.

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  • #
    Ian

    I don’t see why the IEA would “weep” about coal firepower stations. It has no reason to do so, at least as far as Australia is concerned, as after 2022 in Australia there is a steady stream of the decommissioning of coal fired power stations with the last closure being in 2051. Unless the government steps in and builds a coal fired power station, none will be built as no private company is interested in doing so. It is unlikely the government will step in as it plans to build a gas fired power station in the Hunter Valley when the Liddell power station shuts in 2023.

    315

    • #
      Analitik

      Unless the government steps in and builds a coal fired power station, none will be built as no private company is interested in doing so.

      Actually, new coal fired power stations will be built once the government scraps the subsidies for the intermittent renewables (hence hydro excluded). Just removing the “semi-scheduled” classification and requiring them to fulfill the’re day ahead bids into the electrical market (or else face massive fines for breach of contract) LIKE ALL THE OTHER GENERATORS would be enough to provide the demand certainty for such investment by corporations.

      Of course such action would also destroy the “economics” of the intermittent renewable generators – oh dear, how sad, never mind.

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    • #
      clarence.t

      “a steady stream of the decommissioning of coal fired power stations”

      No reason to do that either.

      When/if Liddell closes, power shortages in NSW will hit the wall of reality very quickly.

      The only way in which Australia can decommission coal, is by switching over to gas. (like the USA)

      … and that means fracking.

      (or nuclear.. but I don’t see that happening)

      Do you really think that inner city leftists will tolerate power shortages for more than a few seconds before they go into full on whinge mode and want something done about what they have caused. !

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      • #
        Doc

        Clarence. Unfortunately, enough people follow the AGW cause. Hence rational argument with them hits the barrier of scepticism. To change the narrative, it would take a government fail to adequately cover the energy deficiency of the renewables and have widespread power failures. A Texas style failure would do it. Then people might listen to arguments that the science is not in, never has been, never will be. Point out that this failure is where we were always headed under the cacophony of sound and influence from the UN, environmentalists and extreme socialists at the heads of such organisations where people have other political interests they are pushing, and they aren’t our national interests. Now we have your attention, here are the facts.

        20

    • #
      Dennis

      Power stations in Australia were public assets owned by the State Governments on behalf of the people, State Governments sold them, privatised them and State Governments only have the power and responsibility to approve development applications and other requirements needed to establish, for example, wind and solar installation businesses, or new coal fired power stations etc.

      The Commonwealth of Australia, Federal Government can recommend, can offer part finance to a venture and other encouragement but without State support the venture will not proceed. Consider the Adani Coal Mine in Queensland and the too many years that approval spanned. In fact the Queensland State Government is right now rejecting a new HELE coal fired power station proposal despite Federal financial support for it.

      70

  • #
    Simon Thompson

    I don’t believe in hypocrisy.
    Which is why I point out to the anti-coal people that 100% of all their silicon chips
    are made with coal. And all their steel!
    So if they are prepared to be pre industrial Luddites- got ahead!

    140

  • #
    Alex

    The Italian government is investing millions of euros with the aim of doubling the extraction of natural gas on Italian land. I don’t see this decision as being much in line with Greta’s dreams, and the signature that the same Italian representative at the Glasgow COP26 jamboree put in, in the IPCC’s Book of Climageddon

    70

  • #
    David Maddison

    The whole world is surging ahead with coal.

    Almost the only exception is The Dumb Country, Australia, who is actively blowing up or otherwise demolishing coal fired power plants, even after they have been extensively modernised at huge expense as Hazelwood in Vicdanistan was.

    I occasionally drive out to look at the progress of demolition of Hazelwood. (It is heartbreaking.) It is taking years to demolish because of the huge size of proper power stations.

    In contrast, a wind subsidy farm can be demolished in a matter of days.

    Few people realize the extent of the size difference between a real power station and wind subsidy harvesting devices.

    The real power station might produce a consistent non-varying output of 1GW to 2GW 24/7 while a subsidy farm, even a big one might produce tens of MW only, and only when the wind is blowing and even then producing a useless and unsaleable (in a free market) product that is constantly and randomly varies between zero and something.

    Few countries are as fanatically committed to the anthropogenic global warming fraud, at all levels of government, federal, state and local, as Australia is.

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    • #
      Ian

      “The whole world is surging ahead with coal.

      Almost the only exception is The Dumb Country, Australia.”

      Actually that is not correct

      In the US coal consumption in 2020 fell by nearly 19% from 538 to 436 million short tons from 2019 and by 31.5% from 636 to 436 million short tons from 2018.

      https://www.statista.com/statistics/184333/coal-energy-consumption-in-the-us/

      In the EU the decrease of the consumption of both types of coal accelerated in 2019. Compared to 2018, hard coal consumption decreased by 35% in 2020 and brown coal (mostly lignite) consumption by 33%.

      https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20210810-1

      515

      • #
        Analitik

        It’s all rebounding this year and actually started in 2021 as natural gas started falling short in supply due loss of subsidies/federal permission for fracking in the US and the pipelines politics in Europe. Gas has been the big displacer of coal rather than intermittent renewables, not only in outright generation but also as the generation gap filler when the renewables have been unable to supply due to unfavorable conditions.

        Jo’s post is about now, not the past

        180

        • #
          Ian

          “Jo’s post is about now, not the past’

          I was not commenting on Jo’s post but onDavid Maddison’s claim “The whole world is surging ahead with coal. Almost the only exception is The Dumb Country,”

          You write “It’s all rebounding this year and actually started in 2021 as natural gas started falling short in supply due loss of subsidies/federal permission for fracking in the US and the pipelines politics in Europe.”

          “However although rising natural gas prices have resulted in more U.S. coal-fired generation than last year, this increase in coal generation will most likely not continue. The electric power sector has retired about 30% of its generating capacity at coal plants since 2010, and no new coal-fired capacity has come online in the United States since 2013. In addition, coal stocks at U.S. power plants are relatively low, and production at operating coal mines has not been increasing as rapidly as the recent increase in coal demand. For 2022, we forecast that U.S. coal-fired generation will decline about 5% in response to continuing retirements of generating capacity at coal power plants and slightly lower natural gas prices.”

          That is commenting on the future not the past
          https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50620

          28

          • #
            Analitik

            this increase in coal generation will most likely not continue

            So the EIA acknowledge that coal usage is increasing but PREDICT that this will not continue.

            So David is correct about what is actually happening as opposed to what the EIA are projecting will happen.

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            • #
              clarence.t

              “but PREDICT that this will not continue”

              A bit of cooling, as is quite probable, and you watch those coal usage figures climb 🙂

              Many NH countries cannot exist through winters, without coal oil and gas.

              “Intermittents” are useless in those extreme cold circumstances.

              20

              • #
                sophocles

                You’re right. The UK restarted a coal generation plant just before the end of last year. As the increasingly cold winters keep recurring over the rest of this decade, coal power will see a continuing resurgence.

                10

          • #
            Doc

            I think the USA is now realising it is losing huge amounts of its manufacturing to China. Trump told them but obviously, by the last election, nobody listened. If it gives away its cheap energy sources in the name of AGW, it will realise it can never again compete. It sees China as dangerous and becoming increasingly powerful on the manufacturing shipped over from the USA.

            With a rational government in power – not the current one and President Biden – this cannot stand. Trump recognised what was happening and acted against those US companies that had moved to China and other areas of cheap labour and production. A future Republican government – the Democrats have lost everything of logic in their wokefulness – will be a rerun of Trump’s policies with or without Trump. That will include again spiking the crazy, destructive green policies and going back to modern coal burners for energy supply. For the USA and the Democracies, there is really no choice but to become rational again, or we allow the UN to break us all and the most powerful nation on earth to become enfeebled, all in the face of a resurgent Russia and aggressive China.

            51

            • #
              Hanrahan

              That will include again spiking the crazy, destructive green policies and going back to modern coal burners for energy supply.

              For power the US will continue with gas, rightly or wrongly. The next administration will relax Biden prohibitions to get gas flowing again.

              30

          • #
            Graeme No.3

            Ian:

            Coal use in the UK resumed in 2021 due to a shortage of gas (exploration banned, stocks reduced) and a SHORTAGE of generation by wind.
            Coal use in Germany increased in 2021 due to a shortage of gas (NordStream2 held up) and a SHORTAGE of generation by wind. It seems that Germany relies on 25% of its electricity from coal-fired (not counting imports from Poland).
            The latest German brown coal station has CO2 emissions lower than any station in Australia.
            The advantage of coal-fired is ease of storage for reserves, low cost of generation and (quite often) local employment, to which might be added predictability and reliability.

            30

      • #
      • #
        Kevin T Kilty

        Mines I have visited in the Powder River Basin are surging. I expect 2021 to show a big gain over the prior two years. All those people who were saying that the Navajo Nation was foolish to purchase coal mines are looking a bit foolish themselves.

        90

      • #
        yarpos

        I was wondering what mental cinema could be conjured up to avoid getting smacked between the eyes by reality and the delusion of the “transition” to so called renewables.

        The next few years are going to be great, but sadly painful in some places.

        20

  • #
    Alex

    China is building coal power stations like there’s no tomorrow. It has and is still experiencing a power crisis due to various factors, one of them being the ageing of hydroelectric power dams constructed during Mao’s tyranny.

    110

    • #
      Klem

      Mao was one of the great Leftist thinkers of the last 100 years.

      Ok so he murdered 50 million of his own people, it was all for the common good.

      100

      • #
        David Maddison

        What’s a few tens of millions of people murdered in order to advance the “glories of socialism”?

        All the socialists do it. Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, N. Korean dictators, Ethiopia, Vietnam etc..

        They are always just one execution away from utopia.

        80

        • #
          el+gordo

          ‘They are always just one execution away from utopia’

          There were utopian thinkers at the same time Marx and Engels put their ideas forward and it was only an accident of history which floated their hypothesis to the surface at a critical juncture.

          Utopians are a different breed altogether.

          15

      • #
        John+R+Smith

        That was messy, and in a four year period.
        Methodologies have improved since then.
        And can be a profit generator.

        10

      • #
        Dennis

        And coincidently, now deceased former UN Official and later billionaire Canadian Maurice Strong, said to be the architect of climate hoax based political agenda, was granted asylum in China by the CCP when Canada’s Environmental Protection Agency was after him for extracting water from an aquifer illegally. His cousin was Mao Zedong’s girlfriend.

        70

      • #
        Gerry

        When thinkers are heroes despite their actions we know we have turned a corner we should not have turned.

        10

  • #
    David Maddison

    Here’s something to cheer up the pro-science people.

    This is a 3 minute video from 1948 talking about the achievement of the Yallourn Power Station in Vicdanistan.

    That was from the time Australia had a bright future and before it started destroying itself.

    Very upbeat and definitely worth watching.

    https://youtu.be/eWXFnVT5Wj0

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    • #
      Analitik

      Actually, I find it quite sad given the way the plant was decommissioned and then scuttled on the basis of the CAGW meme

      130

      • #
        PeterS

        Yes indeed but not as sad as what the same mob intend to do to our children by coercing them to be vaccinated for no reason at all other than to kill as many as possible like child sacrifices of old.

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    • #
      Mark Allinson

      ” … before it started destroying itself.

      That’s it – once the elites decide to destroy their own culture they will follow any rationalisations to get the job done.

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    • #
      Annie

      Isn’t Yallourn still operating? At least for the time being. It was Hazelwood that was wrecked and now a big empty ugly blot on the landscape.

      40

      • #
        Annie

        David M. I’ve just seen your comment at #18.

        20

      • #
        Analitik

        Sorry Annie, you are correct.

        I was transferring my sadness of the recent Hazellwood demise in comparison to David’s video of the enthusiasm for coal power in days past and worded my reply very poorly

        40

        • #
          David Maddison

          In any case, most of Yallourn has been shut down except the most modern 1970’s part, Yallourn West which is 1450MW. Even that is to be shut down four years earlier than planned (planned 2032, actual 2028) and replaced with…guess what…a 350MW battery of four hour storage capacity.

          60

          • #
            Doc

            Why do State governments quickly destroy the plants they close? Has anyone given thought to what the Premiers that do this are thinking, and why? Why would they fear some future government might reopen those plants
            in the State’s own interest? Is it due to an underlying political bent that sees the outcome of limiting choice an advance on their apparent belief in the global warming concept. Or is it something else more international? Nobody seems to discuss this need to destroy something that could be useful in the future of the State, especially if something dire happens in the energy sphere? If the building is dangerous then by all means destroy it. Otherwise it seems a peculiar attitude to take, to pull it down so nobody else can use it in the future, regardless of reason.

            30

            • #
              Annie

              I’ve certainly thought along those lines Doc. Deliberate destruction instead of mothballing against future need.

              00

  • #
    WXcycles

    I’ll try again, # 12 is . s t u c k . in . m o d e r a t i o n.

    [Apologies WX but even “War and Peace” only had sooooo many pages.]AD

    20

  • #
    WXcycles

    Just delete it then.

    00

  • #

    Thanks Jo. great news. I am a big fan of things that work and do what they say they will. Coal keeps delivering.

    Forget the ruinables – go with what works. And a side benefit is ever increasing crop yields. Whats not to like.

    50

  • #
    Dennis

    At CP26 Glasgow Australia sided with nations opposed to the woke demand for ending coal mining and use, and also rejected demands for Paris Agreement timing to be reduced from the 2030 agreed period and to increase the target already agreed.

    As for net zero emissions, Australia refused to sign an agreement to this along with rejecting any change to Paris Agreement on emissions reduction.

    But the PM has commented a number of times that Australia has “an aspirational goal” to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, conditional on research and development resulting in new technology, if possible to develop, not damaging economic prosperity.

    50

    • #
      Peter C

      Did Scott Morrison really say that?

      10

      • #
        Hanrahan

        Scotty from marketing is like Abbott and Trump. No one notices when they are right.

        40

      • #
        Dennis

        CNN October 26, 2021

        “Climate change is expected to be a major issue in the next federal election to be held early next year. It will be a two-way contest between Labor and the governing Coalition of the Liberals and Nationals.
        Climate legislation and the concept of a carbon tax has been the downfall of many Australian leaders. And as Morrison’s Liberal Party lose popularity in polling, the prime minister has done everything in his power to show that his government would not impose any kind of tax on energy use.
        In his plan, he emphasizes “tech not taxes,” and without plans to legislate, the net-zero goal remains purely aspirational in Australia and lacks any mechanism of accountability should the target be missed.
        Bill Hare, a physicist, climate scientist and CEO of non-profit science and policy institute Climate Analytics, said the plan lacked detail and there was “absolutely no way” it would help Australia reach net zero by 2050.
        “It just doesn’t stack up,” he said.
        “The so-called technology roadmap has no real detail to it. That’s the largest part of their proposed pathway to 2050. And to the best that we understand it’s essentially relying on carbon capture and storage and other approaches, which have been shown not to work. So at this stage, I think it’s bordering on being a scam, frankly.””

        00

  • #
    clarence.t

    LOL.. “Clayton’s”-scientists threaten to go on strike unless governments start doing more to combat the mythical “human caused climate science”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/01/11/the-conversation-moratorium-on-climate-research-until-governments-take-action/

    All I can say is…… You go for it , guys ! 😉

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    • #
      Ronin

      All I can say is…… You go for it , guys ! 😉

      Yep, anything we can help with, just ask.

      50

    • #
      Doc

      clarence.t That’s what one calls lack of insight by these bods. For many of us, why don’t they really make a late Christmas present for us and permanently pull their plugs – and take their organisations, subsidies, scenic eyesores with them. Please take all those windmills and solar farms with you, guys. China is always looking for tourists and needs some great stand up comedians, with their own props and don’t laugh at their own jokes!

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      Peter C

      If only they would all go away.

      Not recommended for watching, except for the most extreme masochists!
      The Daily Beasst produced this Rap featuring a lot of self proclaimed “Climate Scientists”, including my current favorite, Dr Alie Gallant.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiYZxOlCN10

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      John+R+Smith

      Scientists go on strike, yawn.
      Truck drivers, we got a problem.
      As scientists, they should be able to figure this out.
      One of the reasons I am unimpressed with scientists.

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      Harves

      And in breaking news, prisoners have threatened to remain in their cells unless they are immediately released.

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    clarence.t

    Good take on the use of coal and other fossil fuels, and the climate “gimme’s” hurt feelings… from Vijay on WUWT

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/01/11/climate-industrial-complex-left-clueless-as-fossil-fuels-proliferate/

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    Dennis

    No wonder banks are on side with climate hoax and related business ventures such as wind and solar installations, but opposed to coal mining and coal fired power stations, etc.

    Senator Matt Canavan pointed out on Sky News this eveming that Albo Labor plans to tax businesses, not a carbon tax this time, for emissions, but banks and various other white collar employers would not be levied.

    And guess how those “taxes” would be paid, yes you maybe guessed, carbon offset credits managed by bankers.

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    Zigmaster

    It’s not just that two countries represent 2/3 of the coal generation but they also account for almost half the worlds population. Energy demand is a function of population and with neither country commuting to net zero ( in practical terms ) despite claims of things happening on net zero it’s basically been stillborn. Unfortunately it ain’t going to happen without full buy in from China and India . They’re too smart for that so this continual increase in coal will continue and just emphasise the futility of it all. When people realise there is no practical solution maybe then they will realise the world hasn’t warmed as expected. They’ll go back to the data find that they were mistaken and use the money earmarked for net zero and build some hospitals and try and solve real .

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    TdeF

    The hatred of coal is artificial. The idea was to limit CO2. No one seems to care about CO2 but they hate coal, aircraft and agriculture. Except in Asia.

    If you look at human sources of CO2 you will find that concrete is 30% of the size of electricity and of course concrete production has boomed in China, about half of the world. So you have to demand that they stop building roads and buildings and cities in China. And concrete production is comparable to the whole of agriculture. Who is complaining about concrete? Not the IPCC.

    Then the whole of transportation is 29% while electricity is 28%. So lets move to electric cars and trucks and double the requirement for electricity? Three decades of wind and solar and we have 4% and the carbon criminals want to double electricity?

    Now add the pushers of hydrogen fuel like Andrew Forrest. Base the world’s energy needs on Hydrogen and get rid of the CO2 by some new technology. Simple.

    All over the incredible ideas that CO2 level are both dangerous high and totally controlled by humans. Plus the idea that world temperature is incredibly sensitive to CO2. If you believe these things, someone would love to sell you a bridge in Brooklyn.

    The IPCC tell us that highly soluble (30x oxygen), highly compressible CO2 is insoluble and stays in the air for centuries. Now why would they lie? Is this the same UN which told us in 2020 that Wuhan Flu was not infectious, person to person and that the idea it was created in the Wuhan military virus laboratory and deliberately spread around the world were mad conspiracy theories.

    Now we know that America’s Fauci sponsored the research and hid the China origin because he didn’t want to cause an international problem. How thoughtful.

    And behind these deadly scams is always the UN and their IPCC and WHO and more. That’s what you get with unelected bureaucracies. They are not accountable to the people. So they just don’t care. We the people are just cattle to the EU/UN/IPCC/WHO/IEA.

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    michael hart

    “…the quest for fashionable weather-purity”

    I love it.

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    TdeF

    Once upon a time in 1988 there was a World Meteorological Society.

    It was an unimportant thing, lacking funding and prestige. But someone had an idea. The United Nations.

    But to get funding, you had to have a world crisis which required urgent action, an approaching disaster. Now pollution was a crisis and the many unimportant countries like Tuvalu and San Marino and Costa Rica and China were not manufacturing countries and the few rich and powerful manufacturing countries could be held responsible for desertification, destruction of rain forests and way of life, land clearance, industrial pollution generally. No one controls the weather but they could be changing Climates, if you take a very long term view and squint very hard.

    So a brilliant new UN group was formed, the Inter Governmental Panel for on Climate Change. And it told us that carbon dioxide was a huge international problem which needed urgent international action and funding. But first you had to sell the idea that carbon dioxide was man made and was pollution. That’s a bit hard given that all life on earth depends desperately on adequate carbon dioxide, but how many people know that? So it started.

    And now even in far away Australia, the list of Australian taxpayer funded ‘Clean Energy’ groups is endless. Millions of people now work to stop terrible carbon dioxide ’emissions’. These are Green jobs, even if no one does anything but create and enforce regulations and invent ways to get more money from the public, like Clean Energy Certificates which electricity companies have to buy if they want to stay in business. But it’s not a tax, is it?

    To make this all real and urgent, they needed the voice of Authority, the same infallible IPCC. And their special scientists tell you Carbon Dioxide is insoluble, man controlled and the world is incredibly sensitive to carbon dioxide levels and the Little Ice Age never existed.

    So which government dares dispute this? And which scientific body? Not the Royal Society, the American Society of Physicists, NASA, the CSIRO and every government around the world, except the destitute third world countries like China. Even banks are in on the action, especially the merchant banks who handle Carbon Tax credits and financing of windmills and solar panels. It’s a boom time for many as people salivate over Green jobs, administering the money and the regulations.

    And the International Energy Association is crying that coal is still used , mainly in poor countries like China which produces over half the world’s CO2 despite being only 1/5th of the population. China is a struggling third world country, an historical Climate ‘victim’ of the West. With satellites, hypersonic missiles, aircraft carriers, a flag on the far side of the moon and now their very own military viral institute built by the French and funded by the Americans and for the benefit of humanity. And China has also promised to stop opening a new coal fired power station every week, sometime after 2030, perhaps.

    It’s hard to be grateful enough to the UN, the home of well meaning international socialism and world government of the people but not by the people. And the IPCC, created for one purpose, to tell you it’s all true.

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    The climate issue is a major challenge facing people today, but can electric vehicles, which have been emphasizing energy-saving and emission reduction, really reduce emissions? At least for now, the technology of electric vehicles is not yet mature, and there are various hidden charging problems. The above are my personal opinions.
    In my spare time, I still pay more attention to the fuel version of ISUZU Autos https://www.isuzujp.com

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    Rocky

    Another planning SNAFU from China. Aircraft carriers without launch assistance, apparently.

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    Rocky

    Germany has gone nuts. Phazing out coal and nuke power soon.

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    […] Coal power to hit all time high in 2022 says IEA weeping […]

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