Coal

By Tom Baxter | – ( China Dialogue) – Bangladesh’s minister of power, energy and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, surprised energy watchers recently when he said the country is planning to “review” all but three of 29 planned coal plants. “We are keeping the three coal-fired power plants that are under construction. At present, we […]

Climate Crisis

After a big win against coal, NY climate activists are closer than ever to ending all fossil fuel investments

Waging Nonviolence

By Nick Engelfried | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – When New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced last month that the state would divest its over $200 billion Common Retirement Fund from more than 20 coal companies, it marked an important milestone for a grassroots campaign that has seen a recent burst of new […]

Climate Crisis

Coal Plummets 30% in Germany as Renewables Gain during Covid-19 Slowdown

Benjamin Wehrmann

( Clean Energy Wire) – An abrupt halt to economic activity and greatly reduced mobility in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak have let Germany’s energy consumption plummet in the first half of 2020. While all fossil fuels and especially coal experienced a sharp drop in demand, energy produced with renewables increased its share and absolute […]

Climate Crisis

Frankenfuel: The Market is done with Big Oil and Coal, but will they Lumber on with Gov’t Subsidies?

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Are the big oil stocks headed for collapse? Citizens as diverse as climate activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben and CNBC finance guru Jim Cramer seem to think so. Here is Cramer as reported by Axios in early February even before the historic plunge in crude prices.\ […]

Climate Crisis

Coronavirus Effect: In One Year, Share of Coal in German Public Power Supply Cratered to 16% from 30%

Clean Energy Wire

By Freja Eriksen | — ( Clean Energy Wire) – Coal’s share in Germany’s net public power production fell to around 16 percent in April 2020, shows data by Fraunhofer ISE’s Energy Charts. The institute’s Energy Charts project does not include data on the amount of power the generating facilities consume themselves to operate, or […]

Climate Crisis

US Oil “Technically Worthless,” and Coal Plants Shuttered, as a Tidal Wave of Bankruptcies Looms

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – May contracts for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil went as low as -$37.63 on Monday. So report Jillian Ambrose and Martin Farrer at The Guardian. The price, well below zero, was a first for the US oil market, and showed the conviction of traders that the economy would not […]

Climate Crisis

Is Covid-19 Killing the Coal Industry in Egypt and around the World? In the Meantime, Solar Shines

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Simon Nicholas at South Africa’s Business Live reports that the proposed huge new Hamrawein coal-fueled power plant in Egypt has been shelved. There are now no new coal plants planned in Egypt, which is pivoting toward renewables after years of mainly relying on fossil fuels. One cause for the demise […]

Climate Crisis

Killing off the Animals: By Burning Fossil Fuels, we’ll destroy 50% of their Habitat this Century

The Conversation

By Christopher Trisos and Alex Pigot | – The impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems are already evident. Poleward shifts in the geographic distributions of species, catastrophic forest fires and mass bleaching of coral reefs all bear the fingerprints of climate change. But what will the world’s biodiversity look like in the future? […]

Climate Crisis

Coalxit? Germany, 4th Largest Economy, Officially Approves Phase-Out of Coal

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – The German government has officially approved the end of coal-fired power production in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet adopted a law detailing plant shutdowns and compensation payments for coal companies, confirming a commission proposal made last year to end coal no later than 2038. The […]