EU coal consumption is currently on its lowest level and falling. For a bit coal power plants were used to replace gas power plants, but that has mostly ended as gas has fallen in price and renewable built out has accelerated. Today the EU is at 3% of global coal consumption. It is not the main reason for coal not going down at all.
‘Natural gas’ is a fossil fuel. A lot better than coal, yes, and a lot of people still use it (well-tuned modern furnaces are 90% efficient). Unlike ICE engines with their 20-30% gasoline efficiency (buy 4 gallons, throw 3 into the wind).
In a sane world, all coal would be shut down NOW, all users would be shit-outta-luck. There are NO excuses for continued use.
There are strong indications that natural gas isn’t better than coal, particularly with respect to climate change. Methane, which is the primary component of natural gas, is 10 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO2 is. So it’s better if we burn it, right? Well, not necessarily. There are a lot of leaks with natural gas distribution, and we have only recently started tracking them. Research papers about the amount of methane released through leaks, and satellites to accurately detect methane leaks from space really only started coming out this year, but the results don’t look good.
The short answer is, if you believe in climate change, then there are no fossil fuels we can afford to keep using. Transitioning away from all of them as fast as possible is the only sensible approach.
I totally agree with that, in principle. But, in the US, NatGas has a huge amount invested in appliances and heating, so we need to be able to replace that with less costly electric and with a federal program to help people switch to heat pumps and training for installers.
I absolutely agree. Making life uncomfortable for people as we move away from fossil fuels is one thing, completely disrupting their lives or crippling them financially is another. This all would have been easier if America and elsewhere had seriously started transitioning 50 years ago, but that isn’t an option now.
