Coal powered the Industrial Revolution, transforming societies and raising living standards from the endemic poverty that was humanity’s lot since time immemorial. Its energy density and reliability made it the backbone of progress, first in the West, then globally, long before oil and gas rose to prominence. Despite decades of climate alarmism calling for ‘King Coal’ to be consigned to the ash-heap of history, so to speak, it remains vital, especially in developing nations. It is the backbone of cheap and reliable electricity in populous Asian countries like China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. In any credible scenario, the importance of coal to the economic growth aspirations of developing countries is not going to appreciably change over the next couple of decades.
Energy analyst David Blackmon remarks in his popular Substack Energy Transition Absurdities:
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