--- title: "More Than 40 Percent of the World’s Coal Plants Lose Money" description: "A new report finds that almost half of the coal plants in the world are losing money. In the coming years, that number will only grow." date: "2018-11-30" modified: "2018-11-30" authors: - name: "Dan Robitzski" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski.md" url: "https://futurism.com/40-percent-coal-plants-lose-money" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "climate change" - "coal" - "energy" --- # More Than 40 Percent of the World’s Coal Plants Lose Money ![A new report finds that almost half of the coal plants in the world are losing money. In the coming years, that number will only grow.]() *\Image: Benita5/Victor Tangermann\* ## Stocking Stuffer If anyone ­*still* wasn't convinced that it's time to stop burning fossil fuels, new data on the viability of the world's coal-burning power plants may finally get the point across. It turns out that 42 percent of the 6,685 coal plants analyzed in a [new report published Friday]() by the environment-focused think tank Carbon Tracker are running at a financial loss. Come 2040, Carbon Tracker expects that number to rise to 72 percent of all coal plants. ## Pack It Up These coal plants face a few key problems, the report explains, like rising fuel costs, stronger environmental regulations, and increasingly cheap renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines. As a result, governments could either subsidize their plants or increase people's energy bills. Or they could, you know, stop using coal. About 35 percent of coal plants cost so much money to run that transitioning to a clean energy infrastructure would actually cost less money for the governments and energy corporations that own them. But we're approaching a major inflection point because the cost of renewable energy sources keeps dropping, and Carbon Trackers predicts that that number will rise to 96 percent by 2030. ## Foresight Would be Nice Unfortunately, that 2030 inflection point cuts it ­*very close* to the deadline in an [October U.N. climate report]() that essentially gave us until 2032 to stop burning fossil fuels if we want to avoid the [worst effects of global climate change](). For those remaining 58 percent of coal plants that are still somehow profitable, the world may depend on us not waiting to go ahead and switch to renewable energy. **READ MORE:** [More than 40 percent of world coal plants are unprofitable: report]() \[*Reuters*\] ***More on coal: [Air Pollution Cuts Two Years Off The Average World Life Expectancy]()*** ## Author Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California. ### Author social links [Twitter]() ## More - [Coal Power Plants Are More Than Just an Environmental Burden — They’re Economically Cumbersome, Too]() - [New Evidence Reveals Just How Fast Coal Use Is Declining in Europe]() - [No More Coal: All Coal Power Plants in France Will Be Shut Down by 2023]() - [France Is Officially Shutting All Coal-Fired Power Plants in Three Years]() - [A Power Plant Joining the Grid in 2018 Burns Natural Gas with No Emissions]() - [Electricity Generated From Renewables Surpassed Coal Power in Europe Last Year]() - [Bitcoin Mining Company Buys Entire Coal Power Plant]() - [India Has Shut Down 37 of the World’s Biggest Coal Company’s Mines]()