By Dr. Syd Peng

Dr. Syd Peng

August 8, 2025 - There is no disputing it: Coal isn’t disappearing. Since the turn of the century, coal demand has doubled.

The world needs a new political discourse on coal. This is not a fuel that is going to be phased out or a technology left behind. Its importance to energy security and energy affordability is growing.

The misguided idea that the West would lead the developing world away from coal needs to be put to bed. Europe’s attempted dash to renewable power has left it energy insecure and home to the world’s highest electricity prices. While Europe struggles with deindustrialization, Asia is leaning on coal to tackle energy poverty and industrialize. Nowhere is that truer than in China.

While 37 countries are planning coal power projects, China is the elephant in the room. China produces and uses more coal than the rest of the world combined. It consumes 40 percent more coal than the rest of the world.

Despite pressure to halt its coal use, China isn’t replacing or closing any of its existing coal capacity. China is building another 100 GW of new coal capacity, its highest level of new construction in a decade. China’s coal fleet is more than six times the size of the United States.

Those who disparage the use of coal ignore the enormous demand for electricity from the 800 million people, mainly in Asia and Africa, who live in the dark and suffer from chronic malnutrition. Half of the world’s population has no access to sanitary toilets.

Electricity-driven economic development can solve these problems.

With the United States the home to the world’s largest coal reserves, it would be energy policy malpractice not to make advanced coal technology a centerpiece of the effort.

Dr. Syd S. Peng is Charles E Lawall Chair of Mining Engineering emeritus, Department of Mining Engineering, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV, U.S.A.