The Energy Transition Is Powered By — Wait for It — Coal Electricity consumption is accelerating faster than renewable sources can provide for it. And so the world keeps turning to the dirtiest of fossil fuels. In what should be one of the least surprising developments, global electricity demand is soaring everywhere as the world moves to electrify everything. Out go gasoline cars, in come electric vehicles; out go gas boilers, in come heat pumps; and so on and so forth. That’s the energy transition. There’s a catch, however. As demand for power goes up faster than renewables can supply, the world is turning to a time-tested source to produce it: coal . The result is twofold. First, the year when coal demand is expected to peak gets pushed further out. Second, what follows the peak now resembles more an elevated plateau that’s getting higher and higher by the year. And if history is any guide, we should expect further revisions. King Coal Demand Global consumption of coal is now expec
