Slow Burn: Why We Can’t Quit Coal

Coal feels like history. Steam engines. Sooty faces. Museums and memorial plaques.And yet it still generates around a third of the world’s electricity and accounts for roughly 37 percent of global carbon emissions. Every year, we burn close to one tonne of coal per person on Earth.In this live recording from Octopus Energy & Octopus EV HQ, Fiona Howarth unpacks why coal refuses to fade quietly into the past.Joining them are two exceptional guests:Lucy ShawEnergy investor and advisor. Founder of an energy and climate investment consultancy. Former infrastructure investor at Blackstone, Actis, Vena Energy and the IFC (World Bank Group). Former BCG consultant and ExxonMobil engineer. Fulbright Scholar with an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. Lucy is currently writing a book titled Slow Burn on the global persistence of coal.Dr Sam GeallAssociate Fellow at Chatham House and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Former CEO of Dialogue Earth (formerly China Dialogue). Specialist in China’s climate and energy transition, with a PhD in Social Anthropology and deep expertise on how energy, politics and industrial policy intersect in China.Together, they explore a question that sounds simple and turns out to be anything but:If coal is dirty, deadly and increasingly uneconomic, why are we still using so much of it?Why coal still supplies around one third of global electricityWhy absolute coal use keeps rising, even as its share of the mix fallsHow coal contributes an estimated 37% of global carbon emissionsWhy China is simultaneously building record amounts of renewables and new coal capacityHow energy security, industrial policy and political legitimacy shape China’s coal strategyWhat’s driving India’s continued expansion of coalWhy coal has become a culture war issue in the USThe role of jobs, identity and community in coal regionsWhether the UK really has “moved on” from coal, or simply offshored itWhy carbon capture is unlikely to rescue coal at scaleWhat a just transition actually looks like, and why most countries are still struggling to deliver oneCoal is declining in some regions. It is expanding in others. In many places, it is both shrinking and growing at the same time.One thread ran through the entire conversation: coal is not just an energy source. It is a social system.The question is not simply how to shut coal down. It is how to do so without hollowing out the places that built their lives around it.Lucy ShawFollow Lucy on SubstackDr Sam GeallChatham House – Environment & Society CentreOxford Institute for Energy Studieshttps://www.oxfordenergy.orgDialogue Earthhttps://dialogue.earthFurther reading on China’s energy transitionDialogue Earth – China energy coveragehttps://dialogue.earth/en/tag/china-in-the-world/Earth Set is a growing community of founders, investors, policymakers and operators shaping the business of climate.We host monthly live events in London featuring people building the transition in real time.First Tuesday of every month.Find upcoming events and tickets at:👉 https://earthset.coPlease consider:Leaving a five-star ratingWriting a short reviewSharing the episode with someone interested in energy, geopolitics or the future of climate policyIt helps more people discover the show and join the conversation.Thanks for listening. We’ll see you at the next live event, or back here in your feed soon.