---
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"
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.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/40-percent-coal-plants-lose-money.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Benita5/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## 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](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/climate-change-weather>) 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](<https://www.carbontracker.org/reports/coal-portal/>) 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](<https://futurism.com/european-union-plan-end-carbon-emissions-2050>).

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](<https://futurism.com/tips-climate-change-ipcc>) that essentially gave us until 2032 to stop burning fossil fuels if we want to avoid the [worst effects of global climate change](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ipcc-report-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](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-coal/more-than-40-percent-of-world-coal-plants-are-unprofitable-report-idUSKCN1NZ00B>) \[*Reuters*\]

***More on coal: [Air Pollution Cuts Two Years Off The Average World Life Expectancy](<https://futurism.com/researchers-find-pollution-biggest-global-threat-human-health>)***

## 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](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)