Thursday morning started with rampant rumors that Warren Buffett will invest in coal by orchestrating a Berkshire Hathaway buyout of an big coal miner. Friday the rumors picked up steam.
It is no secret that coal is dirty and that generating electricity from coal causes pollution. It is also no secret that natural gas is a lot cleaner than coal. With such an abundance of natural gas in the United States, supply vastly exceeds demand and prices are cheap.
In the United States power generation industry, the switching from coal to natural gas is in full swing and likely to accelerate over the coming years.
Environmentalists like the switch because it reduces pollution caused by coal.
The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates that natural gas consumption for power generation will be 83% higher in 2030 compared to 2009.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that natural gas consumption for power generation will increase by 20% by 2050 and consumption of coal will decline.
At The Arora Report, our analysis leads us to believe that adoption of natural gas for power generation in the United States will grow faster than the consensus and demand for coal will fall more than the consensus.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns MidAmerican Energy and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Burlington is a rail road and MidAmerican owns a utility that relies heavily on coal. MidAmerican Energy is the operator of a 1600 megawatt four unit coal-fired power plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa, commonly known as Walter Scott, Jr. Energy Center….Read more at Forbes
