The global energy industry seems oblivious to what environmental scientists have to say

Nov 21, 2012 12:41 GMT  ·  By

It was only yesterday when a new report made public by the World Meteorological Organization showed that, courtesy of our heavily industrialized ways, atmospheric greenhouse gases had managed to score a record high.

Based on the findings listed both in this report, and in several other studies, one would suspect that high officials worldwide would seek to cut down on the ecological footprint of the global energy industry.

Still, the World Resources Institute now argues that, according to information they have been collecting and analyzing over the past few months, as many as 1,199 new coal plants are to be built worldwide in the not so distant future.

“Our analysis finds that 483 power companies have proposed new coal-fired plants across 59 countries. Most of these proposed plants are in developing nations—mainly China and India. These two countries account for 76 percent of the proposed new coal power capacity,” reads the official website for the World Resources Institute.

Furthermore, “New coal-fired plants are also proposed in some developing countries where there’s currently limited or no domestic coal production, such as Cambodia and Senegal. The United States ranks seventh out of all countries, with 36 proposed plants with a capacity of more than 20,000 MW.”

According to the specialists who have looked into this issue, should all of these coal plants be built, their combined energy generating capacity would be one of 1,401,268 megawatts.

Given the estimated population growth and predicted expansion of urban areas, it comes only natural that governments worldwide should seek to up local energy production capacities.

Still, what worries environmental scientists (and greenheads for that matter) is the fact that too much attention is being given to energy sources whom world leaders know to be responsible for “fueling” climate change and global warming.

As the World Resources Institute puts it, “The next decade will be crucial for countries—especially developing nations—to make the right energy choices.”