The Beauty of Coal, a Friend to be For a Long Time Yet! By James Reed
Coal, often maligned as a relic of a bygone era, stands as a steadfast ally in humanity's quest for energy, prosperity, and resilience. Its beauty lies not just in its raw power but in its reliability, abundance, and enduring relevance—qualities that ensure it will remain a friend to civilisation for decades, if not centuries, to come. In a world obsessed with chasing shiny new renewables, coal offers a grounded, practical backbone that Western societies—and indeed the globe—cannot yet afford to abandon. Here's the case for coal, rooted in its practical virtues, economic necessity, and unapologetic defiance of the anti-energy zeitgeist of crazed climate change alarmist environmentalists.
Coal's greatest beauty is its dependability. Unlike solar panels that fade with dusk or wind turbines that stall in calm air, coal-fired power plants churn out electricity 24/7, indifferent to weather or season. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported in 2023 that coal still accounted for 16 percent of U.S. electricity generation, a figure dwarfed by natural gas but critical during peak demand—like the 2022 polar vortex when coal plants kept grids alive as renewables faltered. Globally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) notes coal supplied 36 percent of electricity in 2023, with demand hitting a record 8.7 billion metric tons—proof it's no has-been.
This reliability stems from abundance. The World Coal Association estimates over 1 trillion metric tons of proven reserves worldwide, enough to last 130 years at current rates. The U.S. alone sits on 252 billion tons—25 percent of the planet's total—while Australia boasts 147 billion tons, per Geoscience Australia (2023). Compare that to oil's 50-year horizon or the rare earth bottlenecks plaguing renewables. Coal's sheer volume ensures it's a friend we won't outgrow anytime soon, a stockpile of energy security in an uncertain world.
Coal's beauty shines in its economic grit. It's not just fuel—it's jobs, infrastructure, and stability. In the U.S., the coal industry directly employs over 92,000 people (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023), with ripple effects supporting mining towns from West Virginia to Wyoming. Australia's coal exports—$128 billion in 2022-23 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)—prop up our economy, funding schools, roads, and hospitals. Globally, coal powers industrialisation in nations like India and China, where 70 percent and 55 percent of electricity, respectively, came from coal in 2023 (IEA). These countries aren't ditching it—they're building more plants, with China adding 66 gigawatts of coal capacity in 2022 alone (Global Energy Monitor).
Contrast this with renewables' promises. Solar and wind create jobs—intermittently—but their subsidies drain public coffers (U.S. spent $15 billion on renewable tax credits in 2022, per Treasury data) and their output can't match coal's scale or cost-effectiveness. Coal's price per megawatt-hour remains competitive—$40-$50 in the U.S. (EIA, 2023)—versus solar's $50-$60 with storage, which doubles when the sun sets. For nations clawing out of poverty or resisting economic collapse (think Western civilisation's current crossroads), coal is a loyal friend, not a fickle flirt.
The anti-coal crowd paints it as a filthy villain, but its beauty evolves with technology. Modern coal plants slash emissions—ultra-supercritical units cut CO2 by 25 percent compared to older models (IEA, 2022), while scrubbers trap 95 percent of sulphur dioxide (EPA data). Carbon capture and storage (CCS), though pricey, is advancing—Canada's Boundary Dam project captures 1 million tons of CO2 yearly, proving coal can adapt. Coal's alleged "dirtiness" is a solvable problem, not a death sentence.
Contrast this with renewables' dirty secrets: solar panel waste (250,000 tons annually by 2050, per IRENA) and wind turbine blades clogging landfills. Coal's emissions are tangible, measurable, fixable—its beauty lies in its honesty, not greenwashed hype. With investment, it could remain a friend for a cleaner future, not a fossil to bury.
Coal's beauty is its defiance of fragility. Western civilisation teeters on energy dependence—look at Europe's 2022 gas crisis when Russia flexed its pipelines, or California's rolling blackouts when renewables couldn't deliver. Coal steps in when grids wobble. During Australia's 2022 energy crunch, coal plants ramped up as wind output crashed (AEMO data), averting disaster. In the U.S., coal's 2022 surge—up 15 percent from 2021 (EIA)—kept lights on during storms that crippled solar farms.
This resilience matters as civilisation faces collapse risks—demographic decline (women shunning motherhood), economic strain, or geopolitical chaos. Coal isn't swayed by Putin's whims or rare earth monopolies (China controls 80 percent of them, per USGS). It's a friend you can count on when the shiny toys fail, a bedrock for a society that needs to endure, not just experiment.
Coal's beauty is sentimental too—it's woven into our story. It fuelled the Industrial Revolution, lifting millions from squalor, powering steel mills, railways, and cities. It's the unsung hero of modernity, not a villain to scorn. In Appalachia or the Hunter Valley, it's a cultural touchstone—miners' pride, not elitist disdain. Rejecting coal is like disowning a friend who built your house because they're not trendy anymore. Its loyalty deserves ours, a partnership forged in fire and grit.
Critics scream "climate catastrophe"—coal's 40 percent of global CO2 emissions (IEA, 2023) is real. But renewables can't replace it yet—Germany's coal rebound post-nuclear shutdown (20 percent emissions rise, 2022) proves that. Efficiency gains and CCS can bridge the gap, not utopian leaps. Others say it's outdated—tell that to China's 1,100 coal plants or India's 285 (Global Energy Monitor, 2023). Coal's not dying; it's adapting. Jobs lost? Retrain, sure—but renewables' boom-bust cycles (e.g., U.S. solar layoffs, 2023) aren't a fix.
Coal's beauty is its raw, unpretentious strength—a friend who doesn't flake when the going gets tough. It's abundant, reliable, and economically vital, a lifeline for a civilisation at risk of crumbling under naive idealism. Cleaner tech ensures it's no relic, while its historical loyalty demands respect. The West may flirt with wind and solar, but coal's the steady hand we'll cling to for a long time yet. In a world of uncertainty, it's not just fuel—it's a promise of survival. Let's not ditch this friend for a fickle fling.
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