SOLAR HAS GREATER TECHNO-ECONOMIC RESOURCE SUITABILITY THAN WIND FOR REPLACING COAL MINING JOBS

Payne Institute Fellow Hisham Zerriffi and collaborators write about how coal mining directly employs over 7 million workers and benefits millions more through indirect jobs. However, to meet the 1.5 °C global climate target, coal’s share in global energy supply should decline between 73% and 97% by 2050. But what will happen to coal miners as coal jobs disappear? Answering this question is necessary to ensure a just transition and to ensure that politically powerful coal mining interests do not impede energy transitions.  March 6, 2020.