Lessons learned: Reaching “peak coal” in China

China, like the U.S., relies heavily on coal for electricity. Even if you ignore the health and environmental problems that come with the black rock, you’ll find that coal is not capable of meeting all of our energy demands. And China is learning this the hard way.

China has a supply and demand problem: With an increasing population and a rapidly growing economy, the demand for power is greater than ever. But supply is not.

Coal prices have risen 75 percent since 2007, but the Chinese government has limited electricity price increases to 15 percent. This is not sustainable - and, as local Chinese coal mines are depleted, power plants are shutting down, further driving up the cost of coal.

The result? More renewables.

China has at least 75 gigawatts worth of clean energy power plants on the books for future construction — that’s more than four times the output of China’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest power station.

The U.S. has yet to make the commitment to clean energy that China has. But at least we know that, should the lights go out on U.S. coal as they did on China’s, renewables will be there to save us.

The only question left to ask: How many times must we be saved before we get truly energy smart?