Slow Burn: why we still use coal

35% of the world’s electricity is generated by coal, yet the cost of renewable power is often cheaper. The West also decries countries in emerging markets for using coal to power their economies, yet the US electricity grid is the third largest coal consumer globally, and almost half of Australia’s electricity is still coal-fired.

I am working on a non-fiction book to explore the human, political and financial reasons why coal remains so prevalent in our energy grids, and why turning it off remains a challenge.

I am researching the experience of five different English-speaking countries around the world, in addition to China, the world’s largest coal consumer. Four of these (the US, South Africa, India and Australia) are in the world’s top 12 coal users for electricity. The fifth, the UK, will see its last coal power plant close in 2024. Despite successfully turning off coal power, its legacy lives on in the bonfires that now power the country in Drax power stations.