Two news items from opposite ends of the carbon cycle are potentially hopeful signs for our planet’s climate – and in principle could have a positive bearing on the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.
The Wall Street Journal last month reported on a U.S. Geological Survey report [PDF] suggesting that economically extractable coal reserves in the United States, typically measured at some 240 years’ worth, could be substantially less abundant than previously thought – perhaps only half the estimated reserves.
US coal reserves may not be as cornucopian as some once thought
“We really can’t say we’re the Saudi Arabia of coal anymore,” the head of the study told the Journal. The news is consistent with the findings of a 2007 National Research Council study and is similar to other reports of overestimates of economically recoverable coal reserves in other countries.
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