A picture of coal-fired power stations around the world

The use of coal as a fuel dates back thousands of years
.
During the Industrial Revolution, the demand for energy began to soar, and to this day, coal remains one of
the most important energy resources in the world today.
However, as the clean energy revolution heats up, will coal continue to be a viable option?

Source: Carbon Brief

Today's data visualization from Carbon Brief plots the changing
number of coal-fired power plants operating globally between 2000 and 2018.
The interactive timeline presents the latest data from the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the retirement, operation and planning of approximately 10,000 coal power facilities, totaling nearly 3,000 GW, covering 95 countries and territories
around the world.

On the map, the size of each circular icon represents the coal capacity of each plant, which is a megawatt (MW).

The data also highlights the type of coal burned and the resulting CO2 emissions
.

Throughout its history, coal has been used in everything from home heating and steel manufacturing, railways, natural gas engineering and electricity
.
This fuel has played a key role in driving economic development and holds a promising future
with a series of plants open.

However, coal production fell by 231 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2016, and combined with a rapid slowdown in new plants under construction, the total amount of coal operating globally declined
for the first time in 2018.

Today, coal is experiencing stiff competition from cheap natural gas and cheaper renewable energy, especially wind and solar
.
In 2016, natural gas overtook coal to become the number one power source in the United States, and the total amount of electricity produced by coal fell from 45 percent in 2010 to 28 percent
in 2018.
By next year, coal's role is expected to further reduce to 24 percent
.

The decline in coal was particularly pronounced in 2018, especially in China and India, the two most represented developing countries
.
Hundreds of small, old, and inefficient coal plants have been shut down, but larger, more hilarious ones have been
replaced.
As of today, China remains the world's largest coal-consuming country, consuming 45% of the world's coal
.

China - 2000

Future projections

Coal is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, with about 2.
5 tonnes of carbon emissions for every tonne
of coal burned.
The International Energy Agency says all undiminished coal
must be phased out within decades if global warming is to be limited.

Despite these warnings, global coal demand will remain stable over the next five years, with declines in the US and Europe offsetting direct growth
in India and China.
The latter are major players in the global coal market, but will eventually see demand gradually decline
as they move away from industrialization.

Fourteen of the world's 78 coal countries plan to phase out unabated coal altogether, with many committed to converting coal capacity to natural gas
.

As the price of quality solar power steadily declines and innovation in renewable energy technologies becomes more prominent, the world is turning its attention to a clean energy economy
.
A global coal recovery looks increasingly unlikely, and fossil fuels could one day become obsolete
.