Biden promised to cut emissions sharply, but the United States was "forced" to increase coal use significantly

On Monday (Nov. 1), the United States is increasing its use of coal at a time when Biden vowed to reduce U.S. fossil fuel use and will join other world leaders in pledging to drastically reduce carbon emissions at the COP26 climate conference.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the amount of coal entering U.S. power stations this year will increase by nearly 20 percent to 521 million short tons (4.72 metric tons), which will allow coal to surpass nuclear power as the second largest source of electricity in the United States after natural gas. According to the EIA, the surge in coal use in the U.S. this year will also lead to an 8 percent surge in energy-related carbon emissions.

That's embarrassing for Biden, who has pledged to reduce carbon emissions from the U.S. power sector to zero by 2035, because coal use has continued to decline even during the Trump administration, which promised to revive the U.S. coal industry.

The recovery in coal is partly the result of changes in U.S. natural gas production, with plunging oil prices forcing shale operators to idle rigs and cut planned drilling spending, leading to a decline in U.S. natural gas production last year. Today, shortages of natural gas supply, accompanied by a recovery in global economic and energy demand, have pushed up natural gas prices and made it imperative for power producers to burn more cheap coal.

U.S. gas benchmark Port Henry currently trades at around $5.80 per million BTU, more than double last year's average price, while coal from Wyoming last week sold for just $0.75 per million BTU, according to EIA data.

On Thursday, Jim Grech, chief executive of Peabody Energy, the largest U.S. coal producer, said his company was now "optimistic" about a "strong coal market." After bankruptcy in 2017, Peabody's stock price has more than quadrupled since the start of the year.

But according to the EIA and other analysts, the recovery of coal will be short-lived, with the long-term trend remaining a reduction in U.S. coal production and a significant reduction in demand for coal in the power sector.

If global climate policy is pursued in line with ambitions to achieve net zero emissions, the IEA expects total global coal consumption to fall by 55% by 2030 and 90% by 2050.

This article originated from FX168