Page 10 - Green Builder July-August 2019 Issue

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Once-Hot Coal Grows Colder

Renewable power continues to extinguish what was America’s top energy source.

HE PUBLIC’S TASTE FOR COAL CONTINUES TO SOUR: Coal consump-
tion in the United States is at its lowest level since 1978, with poten-
tial energy production dropping behind renewables for the first time,
T according to two industry-specific reports.
In 2018, Americans used 687 million tons of coal, with nearly all going as
an energy source, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That’s down from the industry’s peak of 1.13 billion in 2008. The steep drop is
the result of increased capacity by power plants to run on renewable sources
such as wind and solar—which officially surpassed coal in April—which itself
resulted from renewables’ lower operating costs, according to the Institute
for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Analysts note that coal’s decline comes in spite of the Trump CREDIT: PEGY DAVISžFLICKR
Administration’s efforts to boost the industry by scaling back environmental
regulations. Economics, they say, means more to the public than the number
of restrictions placed upon a product’s production and development. “Coal Lights out? The public’s appetite for coal as an energy source has
has no technology path,” says Jeff McDermott, managing partner at invest- dropped dramatically in 10 years, largely due to the ever-more-affordable
ment bank Greentech Capital Advisors in New York City. “It’s got nowhere to renewables, such as solar and wind.
go but extinction.” It probably won’t be a regular occurrence for at least several years, according
IEEFA notes, however, that having the capacity to generate more elec- to Matthew Hoza, senior energy analyst at consulting firm BTU Analytics in
tricity from renewables than coal doesn’t mean it will happen immediately. Lakewood, Colo.

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