Although the nominal cost of using coal to power existing grids remains misleadingly low today, it will not remain so for long as the tide turns against it. Investors have been taking careful note of the growing headwinds facing the industry. Regulations to limit carbon emissions continue to mount, even as technological advances make low-carbon energy alternatives ever more cost-competitive. Global investments in new electricity capacity from renewable sources have exceeded those in fossil fuel sources for the past seven years, and the gap is growing.
The technology currently available for installing distributed renewable energy in developing countries cannot yet raise all of the world's poorest to the levels of per capita energy consumption previously reached in the west, but developed countries are already reducing overall energy demand and increasing energy efficiency, rendering historical patterns of energy usage the wrong benchmark for global standards in any case.
We should aim not only to end energy poverty, but also to achieve greater energy equity. The coal industry's campaign of self-promotion is cynical and misleading. We should dismiss it and focus instead on meeting global energy needs sustainably. Solving energy poverty is an opportunity to prevent further hardship to societies struggling to meet the challenges they already face, and illuminate the way forward towards a brighter future.
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