Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU), Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (ANR): Coal on the Wrong Side of Energy’s Future

The chairman of Coal India — the world’s largest coal producer and supplier of 90% of India’s coal — recently said that his company would only need 5-6 million metric tons of coal imports this year, from a previous view of 35-million metric tons. In an incredibly ironic move, the company is also installing solar energy to provide power for its facilities, and is considering distributing  solar, as well. There’s an abundance of sun in India and, with a shaky electricity infrastructure, it’s solar power, not coal, that will be the country’s future.

Coal on the wrong side of the future
The coal industry is simply on the wrong side of history. Coal powered the country for a century, and helped fuel growth in emerging markets, but demand will fall in the future, and investors will be left with scraps, as companies fall. Investors would be wise to stick with emerging markets like shale drilling, ultra-deepwater drilling, and renewable energy. These are the energy sources of the future, and coal is the energy of the past.

The article Coal on the Wrong Side of Energy’s Future originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Travis Hoium.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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