Fact of the day: coal reduces CO2 emissions as much as solar power does

One of my favourite quotes is this one from Germany’s Environment Minister Peter Altmaier:

“If one builds a new state-of-the-art lignite power plant to replace several older and much less efficient plants, then I feel this should also be acknowledged as a contribution to our climate protection efforts.”

However, Altmaier seems to have been outdone by, or perhaps taken inspiration from, the World Coal Association. Consider this gem:

The IEA estimates that advanced coal technologies, including Supercritical (SC), Ultra Supercritical (USC) and (IGCC) plants, could deliver 7% of the necessary CO2 emissions cuts in the power sector through to 2050. This is just as much as the estimated contribution of solar photovoltaics (PV) and slightly less than the potential contribution of wind turbines.

They even provide us with a graph to show off their sophistry:

And, if even funnier, Coal: “An essential element of the low-carbon transition.”