Asian Coal Use Set to Expand Despite Pollution Concerns

The Wall Street Journal reported that coal’s low cost will allow its use in most Asian countries to grow for years — or even decades — as governments ignore pollution concerns and order new coal-fired power stations.

As quoted in the market news:

The fastest shift to coal is in Southeast Asia, where local gas output can’t keep up with energy demand and increasingly available supplies of Australian and Qatari gas are seen as too costly. Southeast Asians are embracing coal even as additional gas projects are rolling out around the world, including in Russia, East Africa, not to mention North America.

It is the reverse of the scenario in the U.S., where coal’s dominance is being usurped by fast-growing and cheap shale-gas output, prompting a rise in coal exports, some of which is making its way to Asia. In the U.S., gas sells for around a quarter the price it does in Asia.

Click here to read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.