Slowdown in Carbon Emissions Worldwide, but Coal Burning Continues to Grow

The top U.N. climate diplomat on Monday told the coal industry it should leave most of the world's remaining coal reserves in the ground and start investing in renewable energy sources.

Speaking at a coal summit on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference in Warsaw, Christiana Figueres said the coal industry needs to change radically to help reduce the carbon emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.

"The world is rising to meet the climate challenge as risks of inaction mount, and it is in your best interest to make coal part of the solution," Figueres said.

“Let me be clear from the outset that my joining you today is neither a tacit approval of coal use, nor is it a call for the immediate disappearance of coal,” Ms. Figueres said. “But I am here to say that coal must change rapidly and dramatically for everyone’s sake.”

She cited a “business continuation risk” for the coal industry if it does not play a larger role in finding ways to limit emissions.

One option would be to capture emissions of carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants and inject them into deep underground formations, but development of that technology, known as carbon capture and storage, has received little support from the industry or from governments. 

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/science/slowdown-in-carbon-emissions-worldwide-but-coal-burning-continues-to-grow.html?_r=0