King coal is dirty, dangerous—and far from dead

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BRITAIN WAS the first country to generate electricity from coal. On September 30th that era came to an end when it closed its last coal-fired plant, amid much self-congratulation.

But look beyond England’s clean and pleasant skies—and those of the mostly-rich countries in the OECD, a third of which now have coal-free electricity—and there is little to be smug about. Coal provides around one-third of the world’s electricity, much of that in developing countries, which argue it is necessary for economic growth. Yet the arguments for phasing it out as rapidly as possible are also compelling.

By polluting the air, coal kills millions of people each year, most of whom are in poor countries. It also contributes mightily to global warming, a global problem but the harm of which often falls disproportionately on poorer people. Despite this, coal refuses to die.

Last year worldwide coal consumption grew by 4.5% to its highest level ever, notes BloombergNEF, a research firm. The main source of demand is electricity. The world’s total generating capacity from coal-fired power stations has grown by 11% since 2015, according to E3G, an advocacy group.

There are now more than 6,500 coal-fired power plants worldwide with a combined generation capacity of around 2,245GW. They are still being built. Because burning coal releases much more carbon per unit of energy than burning oil or natural gas, it is especially bad for the climate, accounting for 41% of all greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels.