North America coal December 2021 outlook to 2050

It’s been nearly a year since the Biden administration entered office, and there’s been little progress on advancing a federal climate change policy that would alter demand for coal. In the meantime, coal markets are being buoyed by the strong economic recovery and natural gas prices above US$3/mmbtu. However, coal-fired generation will face mounting competition from lower-cost renewables and more stringent air pollution and wastewater standards in the coming years. By the end of the decade, coal demand for power generation will fall from 525 Mst to below 300 Mst, and all currently operating coal capacity in the US will retire by 2040. The full report, Excel files with data from 2021-2050 and the updated North America Coal Markets tool are available now.