Why has the world started to mine coal again?

Metal Zealot@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 322 points –

With climate change looming, it seems so completely backwards to go back to using it again.

Is it coal miners pushing to keep their jobs? Fear of nuclear power? Is purely politically motivated, or are there genuinely people who believe coal is clean?


Edit, I will admit I was ignorant to the usage of coal nowadays.

Now I'm more depressed than when I posted this

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It's close to 'renewable' but technically it should be called 'low carbon fuel'.

That's like saying air isn't renewable..

There are processes on our planet renewing air. I'm not aware of similar processes for fission materials.

It's renewable in the same way that solar is. Eventually the sun will die and solar won't work just like we'll eventually run out of fissible material.

where's the carbon in nuclear?

The carbon expended in producing the fuel is a good example.

As with all power plants, wind turbines, solar panels, etc. there are carbon costs associated with the manufacturing, construction and transport. Remember that there's a lot of steel involved.