The Economist on the investment trend away from coal … and oil?
Coal mine, Gilette, Wyoming/ U.S. (source: flickr/ Greg Goebel, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
5 Jun 2015
The Economist sees new investment trend seeing coal in the cold, with renewables and natural gas are taking over worldwide.
In a very brief news piece from The Economist, the prestigious newspaper declares the inevitable decline of coal and the rise of renewables and natural gas. The newspaper states that “China, which burns half the world’s coal, consumption in the first four months of 2015 was down by 8% year-on-year; imports by a stonking 38%”. This is certainly great news for our industry and also for the environment however, fossil fuels still have a predominant role in energy generation, specially gas.
Regardless, coal plants are shutting down in the US at a growing rate, costs for renewables plummeting and investors are seeing that coal is a “risky” investment. Regarding investment, where is it all going? gas and oil?
It has been proven time and time again that renewables are not only competitive but also profitable and the age old stigma that they are expensive and risky needs to die (See this article from Bloomberg) especially if we stop subsidising fossil fuels.
To read the full article, please follow the link.
Source: The Economist
