U.S., China to tap huge coal reserves
The United States and China will continue to tap their coal reserves simply because they are in abundance and are much cheaper than oil imports. This means more coal-fired than gas-fired power plants will come on stream in the next two years. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in its report "The World in Figures: Industries," that demand for coal will rise by 4.6 percent this year to 6.8 billion tonnes as countries with abundant coal reserves will start to reduce their heavy dependence on imported oil. This means that less oil imports could mean more savings for the importing country's economic coffer. Inversely, this could also mean less income for the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC). James Hansen, a crusading American scientist, describes power stations that burn coal as "factories of death." Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel that produces twice the carbon dioxide when it is burned thus greatly contributing to global warming. However, the...