Why Can’t The World Quit Coal?

We are burning more coal than at any point in human history — more than during the Industrial Revolution, and more than during the global energy crisis of the 1970s.Global coal demand likely rose by 0.5% last year to a record 8.85 billion tonnes, according to the International Energy Agency, driven largely by China.This is happening despite the rapid reduction in the cost of solar panels, wind turbines, and lithium-ion batteries.So why can’t the world quit coal?Lucy Shaw, who writes the ⁠Slow Burn substack newsletter⁠, digs into this contradiction in this episode.