Some activists may wonder why the World Bank Group funds coal-fired power plants and yet professes to embrace sustainable development. The answer is that there is such an urgent need for energy in the poorer countries. There are approximately 1.6 billion people in these developing countries–700 million of whom are in Africa and 550 million inSouth Asia–who lack access to electricity. Because coal is often cheap and abundant, and the need for electricity is so great, coal plants are going to be built with or without our support.

Since coal will inevitably be used, countries need to operate cleaner coal plants. New technologies (e.g. carbon capture and storage) are still in the early stages of R&D, not ready to be deployed commercially, and hugely expensive. It is critical, though, for developing countries to have access to these new technologies when available, since that will allow energy production from coal while eliminating GHGs.

Article source:  http://blogs.worldbank.org/