{"id":24223,"date":"2025-04-16T07:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T07:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/24223\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T07:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T07:59:10","slug":"renewable-energy-is-in-and-coal-is-out-trump-or-no-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/24223\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewable Energy Is In And Coal Is Out, Trump Or No Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nSign up for CleanTechnica’s Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott’s in-depth analyses and high level summaries<\/a>, sign up for our daily newsletter<\/a>, and\/or follow us on Google News<\/a>!<\/p>\n

US President Trump first sailed into the Oval Office in 2017 on a pledge to save coal jobs, only to hit a brick wall of cheap natural gas. Now he\u2019s pledging to save coal again, but gas is still cheap and the economic case for renewable energy is much stronger than it was eight years ago. What\u2019s the definition of insanity, again?<\/p>\n

Renewable Energy To Increase 84% By 2030<\/p>\n

Wishful thinking aside, the domestic market for coal is shrinking, and the global market likewise. Just look at the latest report from BloombergNEF. The firm\u2019s newly released New Energy Outlook 2005 charts an increase in the same two factors that doomed Trump\u2019s first coal-saving attempt to failure. Under the firm\u2019s Economic Transition Scenario, global consumption of natural gas will rise and renewable energy will skyrocket over the next five years and beyond, while coal continues to sink into the dustbin of history.<\/p>\n

Under a more desirable but less realistic Net Zero scenario, both coal and gas take a tumble.<\/p>\n

BNEF notes that higher interest rates, volatile costs, and trade barriers are not helping the energy transition<\/a> along. Nevertheless, renewable energy and EVs both \u201ccontinue to show advantageous and improving economics, which ultimately drive their adoption to unprecedented levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRenewables and electric vehicles play an expanding role in the Economic Transition Scenario, as ever-lower costs and maturing technologies drive faster adoption,\u201d BNEF summarizes.<\/p>\n

\u201cRenewables generation increases 84% in the five years to 2030 and then doubles again by 2050. So, by mid-century, renewable sources serve 67% of the world\u2019s (much-expanded) appetite for electric power, up from 33% in 2024,\u201d they add.<\/p>\n

More Good News For Renewable Energy<\/p>\n

As described by the analysts at BNEF, solar leads the global renewable energy pack by a long shot, with 6.9 terawatts installed between now and 2035. Wind turns in a respectable 2.6 terawatts.<\/p>\n

BNEF also sees the combined share of coal, gas, and oil in the power generation industry crawl down to a 25% share in 2050, compared to 58% last year.<\/p>\n

The ability of renewable energy to meet electricity demand is further enhanced by power system flexibility, meaning demand-response EV charging programs<\/a> complemented by virtual power plants<\/a> and other programs that shift overall demand away from peak periods. BNEF estimates that more than 4,300 terawatt-hours of demand-side flexibility will be in play in 2050, along with another 6,100 terawatt-hours from dispatchable technologies.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s All This About Saving Coal Again?<\/p>\n

CleanTechnica spilled plenty of ink on Trump\u2019s ill-fated and short-lived stint at saving the domestic coal industry<\/a> during his first term in office. After just two years in office, Trump himself could see the writing on the wall. He didn\u2019t even mention coal in his 2019 State of the Union address, preferring instead to lavish attention on how well the US natural gas industry<\/a> was doing.<\/p>\n

For reasons best known only to himself, Trump decided to take another crack at losing again. Last week he signed not just one but a whole cluster of four executive orders aimed at protecting \u201cbeautiful, clean coal,\u201d<\/a> as he expressed in public statements celebrating his bold, manly signature on the four documents.<\/p>\n

As reported by the Associated Press among others, using the word \u201cclean\u201d to describe \u201ccoal\u201d<\/a> is the oxymoron that puts all other oxymorons to bed. However, that was not the only alarming break with reality expressed by the Commander-in-Chief. He also remarked that coal is \u201ccheap, incredibly efficient, high density and it\u2019s almost indestructible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waiiiiit \u2026 isn\u2019t burning coal the whole point? Like, all you have to do is put a match to it, and the \u201calmost indestructible\u201d stuff shrinks down to a tiny pile of ashes that blow away in a puff of wind.<\/p>\n

Whatever. AP also points out that coal is actually not cheap. In terms of new power plants, it ranks right up there with the most expensive. \u201cNew coal plants would produce electricity at nearly $90 per megawatt hour on average, though no one in the U.S. is currently building or planning to build a new coal plant,\u201d AP explains.<\/p>\n

Renewable Energy Beats Coal In Trump\u2019s America<\/p>\n

As AP notes, solar farms are the least expensive source of new power generation, partly with an assist from tax credits under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which explains why both domestic and overseas investors are tumbling over themselves to support new solar projects in the US<\/a>. In fact, globally, last year, 92.5% of new power capacity came from renewables<\/a>, and 77.3% of that was from solar.<\/p>\n

Even if solar wasn\u2019t so cheap, AP notes that new natural gas plants are still chasing coal out of the room, just as they did during Trump\u2019s first term in office. Citing statistics from the US Energy Information Agency, AP pegs electricity from new natural gas power plants at about\u00a0$43 per megawatt hour.<\/p>\n

Not passing up a good opportunity to rub salt in the wound, AP elaborates:<\/p>\n

\u201cA nonpartisan climate policy think tank, Energy Innovation, found that 99% of existing U.S. coal plants are more expensive to keep running than if they\u2019re replaced with local solar, wind, and battery storage. Americans immediately begin saving money when coal plants retire and communities transition to clean energy, according to Energy Innovation\u2019s 2023 report.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nope, Coal\u2019s Not Gonna Make It<\/p>\n

Energy Innovation is not the only think tank to pile on. On April 10, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis took a look at 102 coal power plants that closed or converted to other uses within the last four years and concluded that practically none of them make sense to rehab.<\/p>\n

Of the total, 24 were already demolished, 14 were converted to gas or oil, and the others sport a median age of 56 years, with all the high maintenance and repair costs that attend practically anything of that age, including the human body.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurther, the plan to restart coal plants ignores the fact that most of the still-operating facilities are running far below their capacity, highlighting that restarting coal plants makes no economic sense,\u201d IEEFA summarized, adding that renewable energy and energy storage are more attractive options for utilities seeking new power generation capacity.<\/p>\n

Renewables Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels<\/p>\n

As for mining more coal in the US to supply coal power plants overseas, IEEFA poured cold water on that idea last June, when it took a look at 800 coal power plants currently operating in nations that fall under the status of \u201cemerging economies.\u201d<\/p>\n

IEEFA described seven case studies in Botswana, Colombia, Morocco, Romania, and Thailand to demonstrate the economic viability of transitioning coal sites to renewable energy sooner rather than later. IEEF concluded that \u201cif renewables are operational<\/a> between 2026 and 2028, the projects can completely end carbon dioxide emissions from those assets by 2029.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a solid business case for ageing coal power plants to be replaced with large-scale solar and storage systems, transforming the energy landscape and economic potential of emerging markets,\u201d IEEFA concluded.<\/p>\n

Interesting! Now that Trump\u2019s whackadoodle trade wars threaten to reduce the US to the status of an emerging economy<\/a>, perhaps IEEFA can take a look at the economic case for transitioning the remaining domestic fleet of coal power plants to renewable energy, too.<\/p>\n

They better act fast, though. Despite all the hot air gushing out of the White House, in February, the EIA noted that coal retirements will continue<\/a> into 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Electric generators report that they plan to retire 8.1 GW of coal-fired capacity in 2025, or 4.7% of the total U.S. coal fleet that was in operation at the end of 2024,\u201d the EIA reported.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s twice the amount of retirements that occurred during former President Joe Biden\u2019s last year in office, which totaled just 4 gigawatts in capacity.<\/p>\n

Ouch!<\/p>\n

Image (screenshot): The global outlook for renewable energy is looking rosy, while coal continues its slide into the dustbin of history (courtesy of BNEF via email).<\/p>\n

Whether you have solar power or not, please complete our latest solar power survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day<\/a>. Or sign up for our weekly one<\/a> if daily is too frequent.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n


\n
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for CleanTechnica’s Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott’s in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[15049,15050,15051,32,35,728,5442,70,16,15,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-24223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-bnef","9":"tag-bnef-bloomberg-new-energy-finance","10":"tag-coal-retirements","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-energy","13":"tag-environment","14":"tag-renewable-energy","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}