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Future of Coal Series

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Despite major shifts in the industry and serious worries in coal communities, today coal still supplies nearly 40% of our electricity. According to the Bureau of Land Management, one out of every five homes and business in the US use electricity made from Wyoming coal. But what does the future look like for fossil fuels in a world where there is increasing pressure to keep them in the ground? In this series, we examine the role of coal as an energy source in a world where constraints on carbon emissions are adopted to mitigate global warming. Indeed, the challenge for governments and industry is to find a path that mitigates carbon emissions yet continues to utilize coal to meet urgent energy needs, especially in developing economies.

Future of Coal Series

Industry shutdowns are messy and painful: 4 lessons Australia’s coal sector can learn from car-makers about bowing out

Mar 25, 2024 07:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Business

Shifting Australias electricity sector to low-carbon technologies and closing coal plants is vital to tackling climate change. But such transitions are easier said than done. People and economies are often deeply...

Future of Coal Series

Thermoelectric technologies can help power a zero-carbon future

Feb 22, 2024 06:25 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Thermometers are an under-appreciated marvel of human ingenuity built upon an understanding of relatively simple physical principles. Mercury and alcohol thermometers rely on the volume of liquids growing or shrinking in...

Future of Coal Series

Extraction of raw materials could rise 60% by 2060 – and making mining ‘greener’ won’t stop the damage

Feb 20, 2024 11:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Business

The United Nations flagship Global Resources Outlook report is the portrait of a juggernaut. Due to be published later this month by the UNs International Resource Panel, it highlights how global consumption of raw...

Future of Coal Series

'Gold' hydrogen: natural deposits are turning up all over the world – but how useful is it in our move away from fossil fuels?

Jan 15, 2024 03:42 am UTC| Nature Business

Hydrogen will play a role in weaning us off fossil fuels. It can be used to power trains, planes and HGVs, as well as being a low-carbon alternative to coke in steelmaking and a way to warm our homes. But where will we...

Future of Coal Series

Making fossil fuel companies accountable for their products’ emissions would support the clean energy transition

Dec 18, 2023 02:23 am UTC| Business

I recently found myself among a group of alarmed scientists, writing a fervent plea to the European Commission to be more ambitious when it comes to corporate greenhouse gas reporting requirements. Our open letter calling...

Future of Coal Series

Coal will be all but gone by 2034 under Australia's latest energy roadmap

Dec 18, 2023 02:21 am UTC| Economy

Australias coal power stations will all close in 2038 five years earlier than previously expected and variable renewable energy capacity will need to triple by 2030 and increase sevenfold by 2050. These are two key...

Future of Coal Series

The world's carbon price is a fraction of what we need – because only a fifth of global emissions are priced

Jan 24, 2023 05:30 am UTC| Economy

At the end of last year, the worlds average price to emit one tonne of greenhouse gases was around US$5.29 (AU$7.77). For pricing to work as we want to wean us off fossil fuels it needs to be around $75 by the end of the...

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Economy

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

What if the Reserve Bank itself has been feeding inflation? An economist explains

Heres something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its attempt to restrain inflation in May...

China’s new world order: looking for clues from Xi’s recent meetings with foreign leaders

There is broad consensus that Chinese foreign policy has become more assertive and more centralised in the decade since Xi Jinping has ascended to the top of Chinas leadership. This has also meant that Chinese foreign...

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the worlds biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third...

Politics

Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board

To say that the Labour party is flying high in the polls is something of an understatement. But despite its consistent lead against the Tories, the opposition finds itself in a rather odd position: on the cusp of power but...

History for sale: what does South Africa’s struggle heritage mean after 30 years of democracy?

One of my favourite statues is the one of Nelson Mandela at the Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesburg. Larger than life, its oversized bronze shoes shimmer in the evening light, polished by the hands of many...

Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight

In the early hours of April 15 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a Sudanese paramilitary force attacked the military airstrip in the town of Merowe and deployed troops across strategic locations in Sudans capital,...

Turkey’s suppression of the Kurdish political movement continues to fuel a deadly armed conflict

The world has 91 democracies and 88 autocracies. Yet 71% of the worlds population (some 5.7 billion people) are living under autocratic rule, a big jump from 48% ten years ago. This trend towards authoritarianism can...

Georgia is sliding towards autocracy after government moves to force through bill on ‘foreign agents’

Georgias ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on foreign agents in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being under foreign influence if they receive...

Science

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on...

US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

When one Chinese national recently petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a permanent resident, he thought his chances were pretty good. As an accomplished biologist, he figured that news...

Technology

DeepL Unleashes AI-Powered Tool for Business Writing

DeepL is a translation service from Germany, and it announced on Friday, April 26, that it would launch a new tool called DeepL Write Pro. It is an AI-based writing assistant created to help businesses with their writing...

Arthur Hayes Predicts Major Bullish Crypto Market Recovery Signal From US Treasury Department

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has identified a potential boost for the cryptocurrency and stock markets based on recent U.S. Treasury actions. These actions could inject substantial liquidity, fueling a bullish...

Tesla Cybertruck Spotted in Sydney Sparks Debate: Potential Australian Release?

As the Tesla Cybertruck makes unexpected appearances on the streets of Sydney, speculation swirls about its potential availability in Australia, despite previous doubts regarding its local launch. Tesla Cybertruck...

Hertz to Offload 30K EVs This Year, Deepens Cuts Amid Mounting Fleet Losses

In a recent financial revelation, Hertz disclosed continued losses from its electric vehicle (EV) investments, announcing plans to sell 30,000 EVs this year amid depreciating values and escalating maintenance...

Toyota Motor Launches Trial for EV Pickups in Thailand

Toyota Motor Corporation launched the trial for its electric pickup trucks in Thailand. The Japanese automaker said its pilot project brought nine fully electric Hilux Revo pickups to key Thai market. According to...