CGTN Europe interviewed Kingsmill Bond, Energy Strategist for Ember
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00:00Let's talk now to Kingsmill Bond, an energy strategist for Ember.
00:04Kingsmill, welcome back to the programme.
00:06First of all, your reaction to President Trump's revival of coal.
00:11Well, we heard this before, eight years ago.
00:14He also revived coal, and it's been falling for 15 years
00:19because it's more expensive than the alternative.
00:22So this is just noise.
00:26Other countries, Mr Trump's supporters will say,
00:28are also burning coal.
00:31He's just falling into line with others, isn't he?
00:35Well, I think he's taking his own path, his own very special path, I guess,
00:41which is, of course, his prerogative.
00:45But, yeah, other people burn coal.
00:47The real story in the energy system, in the electricity system,
00:5295% of new capacity coming on stream is from solar and wind and renewable technology.
01:01That's the real story.
01:03This is just noise.
01:05Noise or not, Mr Trump cites growing electricity demand from those things we all need,
01:10data centres, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles,
01:14which we're all being encouraged to buy.
01:15That's the justification, he will say, for this move to coal.
01:20Is coal the best way to meet the world's energy demand,
01:24or at least one of the ways to meet it?
01:26So, the best way to meet, quickly to meet rising demand for electricity
01:33is to deploy technologies which are cheap and local and simple,
01:38which is essentially solar and, to a degree, wind,
01:41because they can be put up, especially solar, can be put up extremely quickly.
01:44So, if you're really interested in getting electricity fast, you want solar.
01:49And to put some context on this, solar deployment last year of 600 gigawatts
01:55is ten times as much as the growth in electricity demand
02:00from all aspects of AI or data centres.
02:04So, in a single month, additional solar would supply, globally,
02:08would supply enough new electricity for all of the growth in AI.
02:13Is there any place for coal in what might be called a balanced energy mix,
02:19or is it simply time to move on?
02:24So, coal is the foundation of the system,
02:28but the system is nevertheless changing.
02:30It's a little bit like asking this question in 1920,
02:34you know, is there any future for horses?
02:36Of course there's a future.
02:38It's just one of decline,
02:39and as new and superior technologies come into the mix.
02:44And the point is that, you know, in spite of the rhetoric,
02:47that, of course, is what has been happening in the U.S.,
02:49don't forget, for 15 years now,
02:52coal has been in decline.
02:55And trying to resuscitate an expensive dying technology
03:01is not sufficient.
03:04It's not going to bring it back from the dead.
03:07Kingswell, good to see you.
03:08Thanks so much for coming back on the programme.
03:09Kingswell Bomb, the energy strategist at Ember.