Germany opened a giant coal plant last month, but little is in the pipeline at present. Worldwide, coal faces a bleak future – somewhat unexpectedly. Craig Morris reports. At the end of September, a 900 megawatt coal plant approved by Günther Oettinger in July 2009 went into operation in Mannheim. At the time, Oettinger was Minister President (Governor) of the state of Baden-Württemberg; he later went on to become Europe’s Energy Commissioner. Brussels-based Carbon campaigner Mark Johnston suspects that this permit was the last one granted to a coal plant in Germany – more than six years ago. German environmental non-profit BUND used to produce a map of coal plants in Germany and their status: planned, completed, blocked, and discontinued. But the map does not contain a clear list of the permit dates. BUND’s Tina Loeffelsend, who oversaw updates of the map, was not certain that the Mannheim plant was the last permit granted, though it could be – but she also points out that two other permits are still pending for coal plants elsewhere … Continue reading The demise of coal in Germany and globally