Last week, President Trump issued executive orders to revive the use of coal in power plants, a practice that has been constantly decreasing for more than ten years.
However, efforts are likely to fail, energy experts said because fossil fuel faces some critical obstacles. The power produced by coal plants usually cannot compete with cheaper and cleaner alternatives. And many plants that burn coal are simply too old and need extensive and expensive improvements to continue running.
“It will be very difficult to reverse this trend,” said Dan Reicher, assistant to the Energy Secretary of Clinton’s administration and former climate and energy director at Google. “There are a number of forces at work that do not enhance the very bright future for coal.”
Why did the use of coal decrease?
Once the coal races in the United States are primary source of electricity in the United States only produce only 17 percent of the power of the nation. The main reason is that natural gas, another fossil fuel, has become abundant and cheap because of the slate boom, which began at the beginning of 2000. The use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy has also grown a lot.
According to energy information, natural gas now provides about 38 percent of US electricity. Renewable energy technology such as solar, wind and hydro power, produces about 25 percent and nuclear energy generates about 20 percent.
Some regions, such as New England, should soon be closed their last coal -fired power plants. Practically no coal uses the most populous state in California to produce electricity.
Coal was also under pressure, because its combustion releases greenhouses of gases responsible for climate change and pollutants that damage people and nature. Mr. Trump said that these concerns would do Will give up certain restrictions of air pollution For dozens of coal plants.
Where is the coal still used?
In the southeast and in the Midwest, many tools continue to produce electricity from coal races. Companies such as Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Duke Energy and Tennessee Valley Authority-Longer Government Energy-Energy Provider among the largest coal users.
States that have a long history of coal mining are still very dependent on fuel. These include West Virginia, which last year gained 85 percent of its electricity from coal and Kentucky, which, according to the energy information administration, gained 67 percent.
Mr. Trump has directed the energy department use emergency forces maintain non -profit coal plants. The President said it was necessary to prevent electricity outages. During the first term, he tried a similar strategy.
He also issued orders to cancel all regulations that “discriminate” coal production to open new federal land for coal mining and examine whether coal combustion power plants can serve data centers used for artificial intelligence services such as chatbots.
Peabody, the largest coal manufacturer in the United States, said that the world used more coal in 2024 than in any other year in history, which is stressed that it emphasized the need for a source to support the expanding energy requirements.
“To support the growing needs of the affordable and reliable energies of our country, we believe that the US should stop leaving for the coal race, use existing plants for higher use and restart closed coal power plants,” said Vic Svec, Peabody spokesman.
Can Trump’s administration revive coal?
While federal politicians can play a role, public services and state lawmakers and regulators who supervise them that they eventually determine how much coal is burned in power plants.
Edison Electric Institute, or EEI, Association of Trade with Public Services, stated in his statement that he agreed to the administration that the United States needed more sources of electricity, but refused to speak for or against the use of coal.
“Demand for electricity is growing at the fastest pace for decades, and EEI members are using a varied, domestic and balanced energy mix to satisfy this demand while maintaining accounts for customers as low as possible,” the Institute said.
Some large tools, such as Xcel Energy, were transformed by coal -fired coal races, partially used federal incentives created during the Biden administration. For example, in Becker, Minn., Xcel builds a large solar and battery installation, which will replace its coal power plant Sherco. The company converts another coal plant, in Colorado, to the natural gas.
Xcel spokesman Theo Keith said the tool reviews Mr. Trump’s orders “to understand whether they could affect our operations”, but in the meantime, it would function to provide net energy at low costs for their consumers.
Conservative legislators in some countries, such as Texas, have proposed legislation to require greater use of fossil fuels to ensure that they supply power supply and satisfy the growing demand from data centers, electric cars and heat pumps. However, energy analysts expect that if such measures were taken, however, it would benefit primarily the benefits of natural gas, not coal.
Environmental activists said that the effort to revive coal was misleading. They point out that states that use more coal tend to have higher electricity accounts, more health problems, and a greater risk of power plant failure due to aging.
“We will actually reverse the decade of work,” said Holly Bender, the main program director in the Sierra Club, who has made a campaign that was called for coal to end the use of this fuel. “It is obvious that Trump is trying to lay a finger on a scale to maintain open coal. However, these are pieces of infrastructure that are at the end of their useful life.”
