Breakthrough

The New York Times today reports that Europe, which will meet its Kyoto obligations by purchasing pollution credits from other countries, is turning back to coal. Europe will construct 50 new coal plants over the next few years (that's about what China constructs in six months). This is more evidence that global warming's Gordian Knot, and the technology gap, exert a powerful influence even on the wealthiest countries in the world.

Here's the Times:

The fast-expanding developing economies of India and China, where coal remains a major fuel source for more than two billion people, have long been regarded as among the biggest challenges to reducing carbon emissions. But the return now to coal even in eco-conscious Europe is sowing real alarm among environmentalists who warn that it is setting the world on a disastrous trajectory that will make controlling global warming impossible.

Besides their massive carbon emissions, the problem with coal plants is that they, in contrast to natural gas plants, are very expensive to build, and they seem to last forever -- about 50 years each. Once those investments are sunk, it's very difficult politically to take coal plants off line.

Plants that capture and store their carbon emissions cost about 10 - 20 percent more than regular coal. If Europe is unwilling to pay this premium, why would we expect China will?