NPR Marketplace: Why Europe burning more coal this winter might be good news for the climate

Interview with Sabri Ben-Achour

“Coal has no future,” said Marie Tamba, a senior analyst at Rhodium Group.

Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School, said the reliance on coal is better than doubling down even further on natural gas. Germany, for example, is building three new natural gas terminals.

“Well, they will stick around for quite a while, while the coal plants that happen to be running this winter are not,” he said.

This episode is accelerating Europe’s drive towards renewables. The E.U. has relaxed permitting requirements to speed up renewable projects, and Wagner said demand for renewable and energy saving appliances has skyrocketed.

War in Ukraine disrupts Europe’s green energy plans for the moment” by Sabri Ben-Achour, NPR Marketplace (27 December 2022).

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