Fossil fuel price boom isn’t the victory it might seem

Soaring prices: A worker empties a sack of charcoal at a charcoal wholesale market in Mumbai. The price of coal hit a record US$173.10 a tonne last week. — Bloomberg

FROM the price action, you’d think that fossil fuels are back in business.

Since breaking above US$100 (RM414.75) a tonne in May, the price of coal at Australia’s Newcastle port – a benchmark for Asia, which consumes about three-quarters of the world’s soot – has gone almost vertical, hitting a record US$173.10 (RM718) a tonne last Thursday.