Over the last five years, U.S. utilities have retired nearly 65,000 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired power plants. And over the next 10 years, America's power generators expect to retire 60,000 MW more. There are four main reasons coal is on the way out. Investor sentiment and policies favoring clean energy are two of them. Most young investors are in favor of clean energy. They are swaying many fund managers' decisions on what to invest in. As a result, many large funds are steering clear of fossil fuel companies. And the current administration will likely enact stronger environmental regulations. The third reason coal is on the way out is one of simple economics. Renewable power plants are cheaper to install and maintain, the "fuel" is free, and there's no pollution. But there's another economic nail in coal's coffin. The best coal is getting more expensive to produce. Replaced With Renewables The most productive coal reserves in central Appalachia are depleted. And the coal still available is expensive to get out of the ground. Coal supporters tout the fact that coal is still used in some industrial processes like steelmaking. That's true... and we'll always need some coal. But we don't need anywhere near as much as we used to. More than two-thirds of the coal mined today is thermal coal that's burned in power plant boilers. Those boilers make steam to spin turbine-generator pairs and generate baseload electricity. However, other fuels can replace coal here. Most coal-fired boilers can easily be retrofitted to burn natural gas. Although natural gas is a fossil fuel, it generates only half as much pollution as coal when it is burned. | 
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