Coal's future is safe but what about the climate?

By Gerard Wynn and Jacqueline Cowhig

LONDON (Reuters) - Does coal have a future? Climate change protesters and coal traders alike say it's a daft question, but agreement ends there. For protesters, the shiny black lumps of fossilised wood and plants are contributing to drastic climate change. For traders, coal is an energy no-brainer which offers a ray of hope for 1.6 billion people living without electricity.

They're probably both right.

By mid-century, the world may have an extra 3 billion people and four times the wealth but somehow it must also at least halve carbon emissions from its main energy source -- fossil fuels -- to rein in dangerous global warming, scientists say.

Power generation accounts for about two-fifths of global emissions, from burning fossil fuels, of the main man-made greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, and coal for most of that.

"You've got to say -- 'Right, here's the line in the sand, we're going to stop it here because it's madness to continue'," said Connor O'Brien, spokesman for protesters against a proposed new coal-fired power station in southern England, which would be Britain's first for nearly 30 years.

The Camp for Climate Action in Kingsnorth, Kent, has so far recruited about 600 people, organisers say, and joins four similar protests worldwide this year, targeting the coal industry in Australia, Germany and North America.

The Kent camp protesters aim to try and shut on Saturday the existing coal-fired power station which is slated for replacement, owned by the UK arm of German utility E.ON.

Despite environmentalists' concerns, energy companies say they are racing to meet demand for coal, especially in developing countries where the fuel is cheap and plentiful even in a year where coal price rises have outstripped those of oil.  Continued...