Report casts shadow on coal poverty claim ENVIRONMENT

Coal power plants are not the solution to help billions of people without electricity or clean cooking facilities, aid agencies have warned.

Analysis by Cafod, Christian Aid and think tank the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) suggests that continuing with energy policies that focus heavily on coal risks leaving a billion people without access to electricity and three billion without access to clean cooking facilities by 2030.

The analysis comes as a new report suggests consumption of coal for power is likely to have peaked in 2013 and is set to decline by between 2% and 4% in 2015.

The report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said “peak global coal” had occurred as a result of declining consumption by big coal-using countries, particularly China.

China had seen coal consumption decline 5.7% in 2015 while US use fell 11%, Germany 3% and the UK 16%.

Of the major coal users, only India, as it pursues rapid economic growth and increased electricity access for its population, has seen consumption increase significantly, up 3% to 6% year on year.

Alison Doig, senior adviser on climate change at Christian Aid, said: “There’s very little evidence to suggest coal has a role to play in poverty alleviation.

“Even where substantial coal development takes place large populations are often left without access to electricity.

“From Bangladesh to Indonesia and South Africa, there are clear opportunities to deploy clean energy systems and to leapfrog dirty coal development.”

“Opportunities to deploy clean energy systems”

Coal’s role in reducing poverty has been questioned