The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

The natural-gas bounty will cause fewer coal-fired utility plants to be built in the US, but this doesn’t mean coal is being abandoned as a power source. To the contrary, XOM’s 2030 forecast shows worldwide coal usage for power increasing 11% from 2010 to 2030 and accounting for 37% of worldwide power generation in 2030 (down from 45% in 2010):

http://www.exxonmobil.com/corporate/files/news_pub_eo_2010.pdf (page 55)

By comparison, XOM expects worldwide NG usage for power to increase 21% from 2010 to 2030 and to account for 27% of worldwide power generation in 2030 (up from 22% in 2010).