Reintroducing Coal as a Sustainable Resource

While addressing the Coal and Energy Transition Day Conference in Johannesburg, I opened with a video clip from the 1999 blockbuster film The Matrix. In this particular scene, Morpheus tells the story of AI’s rise. I used this reference to highlight how AI was once seen as dystopian fiction. But it has become a reality, one even its creators were unprepared for, especially its massive impact on global energy demand. The International Energy Agency expects electricity demand from AI data centres to more than double by 2030.

The US, China, and Europe are currently the world’s fastest-growing AI markets, accounting for 85% of electricity consumption from data centres. The rapid growth of AI in these countries shows what the rest of the world should expect when it comes to AI’s insatiable hunger for energy.  AI systems require uninterrupted, reliable electricity, and coal is a suitable resource to provide this.

Electricity generation makes up two-thirds of global coal use. The reality is that without coal, meeting the expected demand would be nearly impossible. The world will need all forms of energy to keep up with the projected demand. I also highlighted that technologies like CCUS make sustainable coal use possible. US President Donald Trump’s idea of ‘beautiful clean coal’ is not just another pipe dream with the availability of such innovations.  It is dishonest to single out coal as the sole carbon emitter when solar panels and wind turbines also have a carbon footprint. All energy resources have a role to play to ensure a sufficient supply in the future. 

View the presentation below: