• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 3 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 1 hour How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 11 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 6 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 1 day Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 5 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)

Coal’s Demise Is Fueling A Wave Of Green Energy Solutions

The slow and painful death of the coal industry is creating some interesting new opportunities for green energy solutions, with industrious capitalists turning ex-coal-fired power plants into renewable energy hubs, data centers and more. 

Coal is still the largest source of electricity on the planet, mainly because it is abundant and cheap. It's also one of the largest sources of global greenhouse gas emissions. And as the climate change crisis grows more dire by the day, investors are looking ahead, focusing on greener investments themselves, or leveraging their stakes in fossil fuel giants to push for greater diversification away from oil, coal and gas. 

Not only are investors turning their backs on coal, but renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are also quickly becoming more competitive. In fact, in Europe, the United States and China, renewables are now cheaper than coal - by a lot. And now, the industry is facing another challenge: COVID-19. 

Durand D’souza, a data scientist at Carbon Tracker, explains, “Coal power plants, which are already under economic stress across the world, will subsequently have reduced utilization rates and therefore will become even less economically viable.”

Related: This Supermajor Is About To Slash Permian Oil Production

It's a perfect storm for coal, and it is forcing more and more coal-fired plants to close their doors. 

Breathing Life Into Shuttered Coal Plants 

For the past century, coal-fired power plants have played a major role in the world's electricity market. They are completely intertwined with the U.S. power grid, in particular, meaning that decoupling the plants from the grids could be costly and time-consuming. That's why some ambitious industrialists are stepping in to make the most out of a bad situation. 

Companies and organizations throughout the United States are creating new systems to redevelop abandoned fossil-fueled plants

In Chicago, for example, developers are planning to build a massive data center at the old Fisk Generating coal-fired power plant. The shuttered plant is part of a larger initiative focusing on a coal-free Chicago, and presents a unique opportunity to push the city into a greener tomorrow. 

And in nearby Independence, Missouri, the city's utilities arm received a pair of proposals for the possibility of repurposing its shuttered Blue Valley Power Plant. One of the offers proposes the installation of 50 MW of battery storage. The other envisions manufacturing biofuel at the site.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment
  • Kint Verbal on March 27 2020 said:
    I'm sure Make Twain was not talking about coal. Same as I'm sure the gentleman quoting Twain has no clue about energy markets, merit order and other such basic ideas. Coal is completely dead.
  • Leo Kobrinsky on March 25 2020 said:
    Remember Mark Twain's quote: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”? The coal gonna be one the biggest source of energy in that century - right after nuclear one.

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News