The incompatibility of high-efficient coal technology with 2°C scenarios

Even the most efficient coal plants are not compatible with the global climate change goals, a new study reveals. As world leaders prepare to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change next week, a report from Ecofys shows that any coal-fired power generation will take the world off course from the internationally agreed target of keeping temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The study was commissioned by WWF’s European Policy Office. Ecofys found that even if all coal plants used the most efficient available technology – so-called ‘high efficiency low emissions’ (HELE) technology – the sector’s emissions would still be over those levels. The 1,400 GW of currently planned coal capacity is not compatible with limiting warming to 2°C. If all planned capacity were HELE coal-fired electricity generation plants, the 2°C goal would still not be within reach.

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