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New coal power cannot compete with solar and wind – Mark Diesendorf

The writing is on the wall for coal power and indeed for all fossil-fuelled electricity. In 2017 new global investment in all fossil-fuelled power (coal + oil + gas) was US$145b. But new global investment in renewable electricity was more than double that at US$310b. Around the world, many proposed new coal- fired power stations have been cancel- ed. In Australia, new coal power cannot compete with solar and wind farms. No-one wants to invest in new coal power.

As a result, a group of federal govern- ment politicians with links to the coal industry are pushing for huge subsidies to build an unnecessary new coal-fired power station. Meanwhile, the small subsidy to renewable energy (a certificate or portfolio scheme) ends in 2020.

Source: https://www.quora.com/How-come-coal-is-38-percent-of-global-power-generation-both-in-2017-and-1998

Assoc Prof Mark Diesendorf works at the University of New South Wales

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