Mark C. Thurber is Associate Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University.

1 The Double-Edged Sword of Coal

Fueling the world with coal

Coal's environmental problems

The nature of energy resources

Factors shaping the future of coal

Conclusion

Notes

2 The Quest for Energy Security

Coal: the first source of (nearly) unlimited energy

Coal as the OECD's antidote to oil insecurity

China's coal-based energy security paradigm

Coal and energy security in India

Coal and energy security in other developing countries

Will we run out of coal?

Critiquing the energy security rationale for coal

Conclusion

Notes

3 Tensions along the Coal Value Chain

Underground mining and its risks

Productivity improvements in mining

The politics of declining coal sector employment

Benefits and harms to local communities

Coal transportation

Coal power (and pollution)

The coal value chain fights back

The coal-power conflict

Conclusion

Notes

4 Environmental Politics and Policymaking

Incorporating environmental externalities

Drivers of environmental policy

Public support for environmental protection

Institutional capacity and environmental regulation: The cases of China and India

Environmental groups versus coal

International finance and international climate politics

The impact of environmental advocacy

Conclusion

Notes

5 Alternatives to Coal

Coal vs. nuclear

Coal vs. natural gas

Coal vs. wind and solar

Coal vs. cleaner coal

The challenge of replacing coking coal

Progress in coal alternatives

Conclusion

Notes

6 Policy, Technology, and the Future of Coal

Why has coal persisted as the "default fuel"?

Climate policy and technological change

The future of coal

Notes

Selected Readings

Index

By making available the almost unlimited energy stored in prehistoric plant matter, coal enabled the industrial age - and it still does. Coal today generates more electricity worldwide than any other energy source, helping to drive economic growth in major emerging markets. And yet, continued reliance on this ancient rock carries a high price in smog and greenhouse gases.
We use coal because it is cheap: cheap to scrape from the ground, cheap to move, cheap to burn in power plants with inadequate environmental controls. In this book, Mark Thurber explains how coal producers, users, financiers, and technology exporters drive this supply chain, while fragmented environmental movements battle for full incorporation of environmental costs into the global calculus of coal. Delving into the politics of energy versus the environment at local, national, and international levels, Thurber paints a vivid picture of the multi-faceted challenges associated with continued coal production and use in the twenty-first century.