"The uncertain death of king coal," 7 August 2017

While renewable energy has seen some important improvements of late, current trends show the persistence of coal in Asia’s energy future... After three years of declining coal production, China has suddenly seen a rise in both its production and consumption... [while] the rest of Asia is also caught in the midst of a strange debate where the death of coal is being celebrated while... official consensus seems to be that coal will continue to be a large part of future plans... China [has] defined the access to electricity as a form of basic “human right” that the state needed to give to its citizens... India has echoed similar sentiments, with its government promising to bring electricity to all its citizens... In Bangladesh, the government is also pledged to bring electricity to all its citizens, even if it has to increase electricity generation from coal to more than half of its total generation, compared to a current 1.6 per cent...The rush to coal in Asian countries reflects these three concerns: political pressure to provide energy, reliability of supply, and profits... [In India] despite a best case scenario of over 40 per cent of energy generation through renewables by 2040 coal would remain one of the main generators of energy... [contributing to] an increase in premature deaths... [and] agriculture productivity loss... In Pakistan, a seven year old girl has sued the Pakistani government in the country’s Supreme Court over the costs of pollution, while in India, a nine year old one has done the same. It is only when these factors are properly calculated that the cost of coal will become obvious, and push Asia towards healthier, and truly more economic, alternatives in the quest of providing a better life to the people living here.