«China's
coal power investments have reached an important juncture: keep pouring capital into increasingly unviable projects and put the financial system under additional pressure from the risk of large - scale defaults, or stop investing and promote efficiency,» the Carbon Tracker Initiative said.
The outlook for coal is slowing, however, with
coal power investments having already peaked.
The investment decisions taken in 2016, totalling a mere 40 GW globally, signal a more dramatic slowdown ahead for
coal power investment once the current wave of construction comes to an end.
Not exact matches
Over a year which has seen large banks halt funding for fossil fuel projects, major institutions divest from oil, gas and
coal holdings, and oil companies snap up
power and renewables companies in a bid to diversify their asset base, research published today by the UK Sustainable
Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) and the Climate Change Collaboration suggests nervousness over climate risk has shot up in financial circles.
When both rules are fully enforced, Bernstein Research estimates that 15 % of
coal - fired
power plants will be forced to close — unable to meet new safety standards — or will require substantial new
investment to remain viable.
The model produces different jobs and growth projections for a business - as - usual scenario with no technology breakthroughs or major new policies, and then generates different outcomes by factoring in new policies such as a national clean energy standards such as proposed by President Obama; increases in corporate average fuel economy standards; tougher environmental controls on
coal - fired
power generators; extended
investment and production tax credits for clean energy sources and an expanded federal energy loan guarantee program.
Even without the environmental drive, new railways from mines to ports, falling
investment in
coal - fired generation and slowing
power demand growth could see China's miners export some of their surplus output at competitive prices, hitting regional miners and the viability of new projects.
An
investment bank report says geothermal energy is now cheaper per kilowatt - hour than
coal - derived
power.
«It's now competitive in terms of
power per unit of
investment, but you get a lot more
power per unit
coal,» Chu noted.
The European
Investment Bank's new criteria on
coal lending — tied to specified limits on fossil fuel
power plant emissions — have been criticized as being too generous to polluters, while the U.S. Ex-Im Bank continues to back
coal - fired
power stations in many parts of the world.
The new study finds that as much as 37 % of global
investment in
coal power plants over the next 40 years could be stranded if action is delayed, with China and India bearing most of these costs.
While
investment in China's
power grid has risen substantially, the country still has some of the world's highest curtailment rates for renewable energy, meaning thousands of turbines are taken offline, even under optimum wind conditions, because grid operators lack the knowledge and skills to integrate the clean energy with other sources, including baseload
power from
coal plants.
But one major owner of
coal - fired
power plants, Southern, has so far lingered on the sidelines and publicized its
investments in clean
coal technology and nuclear
power.
«Even regular
coal - fired
power plants are generally terrible
investments,» Bauer says.
Wheeler examined International Energy Agency data for 174 countries on
investments in six low - carbon
power sources (hydro, geothermal, nuclear, biomass, wind and solar) to find the incremental costs of clean
power compared to a cheaper, carbon - intensive option like a conventional
coal - fired
power plant.
The right way is to promote more emission - free nuclear
power and encourage the
investments necessary to produce electricity from
coal without releasing carbon into the air.
Once the nation is committed to action, the government and private sector could concentrate their thinking on whether very large - scale infrastructure
investments would need to be supported with public funds ---- projects such as solarization of the grid, new
coal power plants with carbon capture and sequestration, etc..
Even while they are running adds criticizing governor Sebelius's decision, Peabody Energy is already incorporating a shadow price of carbon into their financial calculations when deciding if
investments in new
coal - fired
power plants are viable.
Global
investments in renewable energy were double that spent on new
coal and natural gas - fired
power generation.
They also recommended prompt
investment in projects aimed at capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide from
power plants on a large scale — something that many energy experts say has to happen because
coal will continue being used as a fuel for decades.
The plan sets a goal to reduce the state's
coal - driven
power generation, which is responsible for dangerous pollution such as mercury, soot and carbon dioxide, and calls for
investment in renewable energy and energy conservation.
The real news coming out of these talks is what happened outside the negotiating halls: massive protests at Germany's open pit
coal mines with Pacific islanders standing in solidarity, governments joining a new initiative to
power past
coal, Norway's push to ditch oil and gas
investments, and the emergence of non-state actors as a powerful force for change.
If the exporting region is rich in
coal resources, like Shanxi, this line will mainly transmit
coal power throughout its lifetime, unless new transmission
investments are made to connect other areas with renewable resources.
At a plausible GHG emissions price of $ 50 / t CO2eq under a future US carbon mitigation policy, such co-production systems competing as
power suppliers would be able to provide low - GHG - emitting synthetic fuels at the same unit cost as for
coal synfuels characterized by ten times the GHG emission rate that are produced in plants having three times the synfuel output capacity and requiring twice the total capital
investment.
As the government floats the prospect of help for cleaner -
coal power stations and attacks Labor for committing too strongly to renewables, Shorten will say that to achieve the ALP's 50 % target much more private
investment in renewable generation and technology will be needed than the amount required to get to the legislated Renewable Energy Target (RET).
As expected, the President advocated carbon dioxide (CO2) emission standards for new and existing
coal - fired
power plants, tough new energy efficiency standards for homes and appliances, and federal support for private renewable energy
investment on public lands.
In the long run, according to the report, the steady demand for electricity is likely to result in
investments in much cleaner
power plants, even if
coal remains the dominant fuel for our electricity production.
This approach is far superior to KfW's current plan because it firmly aligns with a growing call to end support and
investment for new unabated
coal - fired
power plants.
An EPS achieves this by setting the
investment standard between 500 - 550 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour, which only allows for
coal - fired
power plants that effectively capture and store their carbon emissions.
With the new
investment, the campaign aims to retire half of US
coal -
powered plants by 2017, and to retire all
coal and gas by 2030.
The site revealed Steyer has had direct, personal involvement in assembling a portfolio of strategic
investments in overseas
coal mines and
coal - fired
power plants unprecedented in scale.
Greenpeace commissioned economic analysts to look at the
investments of Australia's major banks and found that while many were making sound
investments in clean energy and winning sustainability and climate leadership awards, they were doing something else too — investing in
coal mining and
coal - fired
power generation in volumes which massively eclipse their clean energy portfolios.
The study reflects international trends in
investment in
coal - burning
power plants, with construction of
coal - fired
power plants slowing in the West since the 1980s but increasing in China, India, and other areas of the developing world.
In February 2008,
investment banks Morgan Stanley, Citi, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank of America announced that any future lending for
coal - fired
power would be contingent on the utilities demonstrating that the plants would be economically viable with the higher costs associated with future federal restrictions on carbon emissions.
Regulators,
investment banks, and political leaders are now beginning to see what has been obvious for some time to climate scientists such as James Hansen: that it makes no sense to build
coal - fired
power plants only to have to bulldoze them in a few years.
And globally, while one - third of planned
power capacity is still in
coal, renewable energy
investment was double that of
coal and gas last year.
As a recent report by the Carbon Tracker Initiative highlights, grid costs become prohibitive for
coal in rural areas when the
investment needed to build a thermal
power plant is combined with the cost of building electricity grid extensions and importing fuel.
Appalachian is making significant
investments in transmission infrastructure to improve grid reliability and to support recent
coal - fueled
power plant closings responding to environmental requirements.
Both will still produce
power that is more expensive than
coal, but Google believes that this will change with continued
investment in the technologies used and with others coming on board as companies begin to realise the benefits to be gained.
Google said it will «make strategic
investments and grants that demonstrate a path toward producing energy at an unsubsidized cost below that of
coal - fired
power plants.»
«For fossil fuels, you make the initial
investment, and also you pay for operation every day — pay for
coal or for natural gas for rest of the life of the
power plant.
The Productivity Commission produces figures that show each 2kW air conditioning systems requires around $ 7,000 of added infrastructure
investment — made up for $ 4,000 in distribution (in neighbourhoods), $ 1,400 in transmission (from the central
coal fired
power station), and $ 1,600 in generation costs (gas fired peakers).
Contrary to industry claims,
coal power would fail to deliver electricity to those suffering from energy poverty and would actively degrade their lives, says Gore and global
investment manager David Blood
He urged, «Make sure that the Public Utility Commissions do not allow irrational
investments in upgrading 50 - year - old
coal - fired
power plants.»
A total of $ 100 million in concessional funds from CTF were essential to bridge the cost gap relative to
coal power generation and in providing the positive incentives required for Eskom and its lenders to proceed with the
investment.
Between 2010 - 2020, rapid near - term
investment in natural gas electricity - generating capacity can progressively replace Australia's dirtiest
coal - fired
power plants for baseload
power.
One of the nation's most respected resource economists, Dr. Thomas M.
Power, just released a new white paper showing that
coal exports to China will increase that country's
coal burning and pollution, and decrease
investments in energy efficiency.
But carbon pricing and the inability of the
coal industry to demonstrate the viability of carbon capture and storage implies new
coal - fired
power capacity may never become
investment - worthy.
Enel, the Italian energy giant, has pledged to phase out its
investments in
coal and aims to lead the
power industry's efforts to combat climate change.
Our owners made a $ 1 billion
investment in Best Available Control Technology (BACT) to create the cleanest
coal - fueled
power plant in Illinois — and one of the cleanest in the world.