Coal companies prosper in the U.S. and Europe.

Implications: Elisabeth Rosenthal in Civitavecchia, Italy, reported in the April 23 issue of the International Herald Tribune that leading Italian electricity producer Enel will increase its reliance on coal to 33% from 14%. Altogether, European countries are expected to build 50 coal-fired power plants over the next five years. These generating stations will function for 50 years. The return to coal in ecology-conscious Europe causes alarm among the environmentalists. They claim that disaster lies ahead. It will be impossible to control global warming. Protests have occurred in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. Enel says it has no choice. Fuel costs have risen 151% since 1996. Coal reserves will last 200 years and it is cheap compared to both oil and natural gas. Enel plans to use clean-coal technology which will reduce the amount of pollution put out into the atmosphere. But it does not reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that results from coal combustion. 

Analysis:  Coal producing companies in the western world are prospering as a result of renewed interest in coal as an efficient and inexpensive energy source. The truth is that coal has been a popular fuel for decades. However the rapid increases in the cost of both crude oil and natural gas have accelerated the demand for it. According to the BP statistical Review 2007, during 2006, coal provided 30% of total consumed energy in the world compared to oil at 36% and natural gas at 24%. Nuclear and hydroelectric provided the remaining 10%. Coal in 2006 continued to be the fastest growing component of the energy mix. All of the evidence before us suggests that this trend will continue, driven by high crude oil and natural gas prices. There is nothing to suggest that carbon dioxide can be limited. If in fact it contributes to global warming, which is controversial, then the world will continue to warm up. All of our studies of climatology suggest that the world will warm up regardless of the carbon dioxide output. Global warming, like global cooling appears to be a natural, cyclic feature of the earth’s climate. Fortunately, most of the global warming occurs in the summertime when it is welcomed by those who like to get suntans. Toilers in the outdoors, particularly in desert climes are less enthusiastic about it. Setting a long string of casing in an oil well in the Rub Al Khali when the temperature is over 130° Fahrenheit even at midnight is not a pleasant experience. The wintertime, of course is different. When it is cold, people like to get warm. If it takes polluting coal to ward off the shivers, let it happen. So allow the carbon dioxide to escape into the atmosphere. Maybe some good will come of it. After all, trees and plants breathe it and exhale oxygen. Americans, Europeans, Asians; a little extra oxygen will do all of us a world of good.