Coal is not going anywhere. For years, there has been a narrative that we can easily and quickly decrease the world’s overall usage of fossil fuels and switch to cleaner and more renewable energy sources. The truth is, the transition is extremely costly and not possible in such a short time frame.
Over the past 20 years, tens of trillions of dollars have been spent to transition to renewable resources, only yielding a 3.8% reduction in fossil fuel use – from 86% to 82% – as a percentage of all energy produced, according to the Fraser Institute. During this period, the overall use of fossil fuels worldwide increased by 41%, and coal increased by 55%, according to the Manhattan Institute. With such a staggering increase in usage, this return on investment is a failure.
For starters, renewable energy is not carbon-free and will require an enormous investment. The amount of infrastructure buildout required to get energy from wind and solar farms to consumers requires a lot of steel, concrete, and other materials that use coal and energy.
The truth is that switching to these renewable energy sources is not always better for the environment. One megawatt of onshore wind capacity requires hundreds of tons of coal, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Additionally, building these large-scale wind and solar sources requires a significant amount of steel, concrete, and critical minerals that would require the use of fossil fuels for extraction, processing, and transportation. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the supply of materials such as lithium, graphite, and nickel would need to increase by 4200%, 2500%, and 1900%, respectively, to meet these needs.
Land use is another issue. Compared to mining, renewable resources require much more land to accommodate the generation facilities, new transmission lines, and charging stations. Wind turbines, solar farms, and battery storage facilities would require 10 times more land area than fossil fuels per unit of power produced. Furthermore, the extra land needed for these materials could lead to deforestation, increased mining, and other non-environmentally friendly practices.
The reliability of the power grid introduces another key issue. As fossil fuel power plants phase out, the demand may exceed the supply of dependable and dispatchable energy. Without always-ready sources of energy in place, there is a risk of creating instability during periods of peak demand.
The International Energy Agency states the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has dramatically increased and continues to do so. Since 2022, the global investment in data centres has nearly doubled and amounted to half a trillion dollars in 2024. These AI data centres are each consuming as much electricity as 100,000 households, and there are no signs of slowing down. Many of the larger centres that are now under construction will consume 20 times as much energy.
With known increased energy needs on the horizon, realistic and proper precautions must be implemented, as the energy sector, including coal, is a component of a significant technological evolution. Renewable energy sources cannot meet the demands of today, and certainly not for society’s future needs.
Plus, in addition to energy production, coal plays a large role in our everyday life and is used in everything from the manufacturing of steel and concrete, to fertilizers and water filtration, to new applications including carbon-fiber aerospace components and building product materials.
A diversified, all-that-works approach to energy production, including coal, is essential in achieving security, affordability, and reliability in the coming years.
