Despite the fact that the world has been talking about this for 25 years… Coal is still the king.
Today's Take: Coal is still king
This Sunday marks the 110th anniversary of the
beginning of one of the most important energy
transitions. On July 31, 1912, Winston Churchill, then
Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty, established a
Royal Commission on Fuels and Engines to explore
shifting the Royal Navy from coal to fuel oil.
Churchill convinced the navy to abandon coal-fired
steam boilers. And over the next century, the world
energy map transformed itself, first through the rise of
oil and later to solar and wind power. The ecological
movement became a major political force, pushing the
fight against climate change.
And coal? It's still there, king as always.
The International Energy Agency this week said global
coal demand in 2022 will match the all-time high set in
2013 of about 8 billion metric tons. And next year, coal
consumption will set a fresh record high.
It bears repeating: global demand for coal, the most-
polluting fossil fuel, is still rising. The gap between the
reality of the coal market and the well-
intentioned words uttered at climate conferences has
never been wider.
And it isn't just absolute demand. Even as a share of
And it isn't just absolute demand. Even as a share of
the world's primary energy, coal consumption remains
robust. Last year, coal accounted for 27% of the world's
primary energy, a couple of percentage points higher
than two decades ago, and about the same level as 50
years ago.
With demand rising - in part due to Russia's invasion
of Ukraine - and supply stagnant, the world is paying
a steep financial cost for coal alongside the
environmental toll. In Europe, coal prices this week
surged to a record above $400 per ton.
As important as the surge in spot prices is the fact that
the whole forward curve has moved much higher in
recent weeks. If in March, just after Russia's attack, the
market saw a short-term rally, now it's betting on
sustained high prices through the rest of 2022, into
2023 and even 2024,
It's an increasingly expensive addiction the world just
can't seem to kick.
-Javier Blas, Bloomberg Opinion
Bloomberg: Coal Is Still the King
Today's Take: Coal is still king
This Sunday marks the 110th anniversary of the
beginning of one of the most important energy
transitions. On July 31, 1912, Winston Churchill, then
Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty, established a
Royal Commission on Fuels and Engines to explore
shifting the Royal Navy from coal to fuel oil.
Churchill convinced the navy to abandon coal-fired
steam boilers. And over the next century, the world
energy map transformed itself, first through the rise of
oil and later to solar and wind power. The ecological
movement became a major political force, pushing the
fight against climate change.
And coal? It's still there, king as always.
The International Energy Agency this week said global
coal demand in 2022 will match the all-time high set in
2013 of about 8 billion metric tons. And next year, coal
consumption will set a fresh record high.
It bears repeating: global demand for coal, the most-
polluting fossil fuel, is still rising. The gap between the
reality of the coal market and the well-
intentioned words uttered at climate conferences has
never been wider.
And it isn't just absolute demand. Even as a share of
And it isn't just absolute demand. Even as a share of
the world's primary energy, coal consumption remains
robust. Last year, coal accounted for 27% of the world's
primary energy, a couple of percentage points higher
than two decades ago, and about the same level as 50
years ago.
With demand rising - in part due to Russia's invasion
of Ukraine - and supply stagnant, the world is paying
a steep financial cost for coal alongside the
environmental toll. In Europe, coal prices this week
surged to a record above $400 per ton.
As important as the surge in spot prices is the fact that
the whole forward curve has moved much higher in
recent weeks. If in March, just after Russia's attack, the
market saw a short-term rally, now it's betting on
sustained high prices through the rest of 2022, into
2023 and even 2024,
It's an increasingly expensive addiction the world just
can't seem to kick.
-Javier Blas, Bloomberg Opinion
Bloomberg: Coal Is Still the King
