Challenge of cutting global coal dependence

IT won't be easy to get rid of coal.

Worried the nation might miss its 2020 target to drastically cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the German government proposed a steep levy last year on the most heavily polluting generators. The tax was intended to deliver a decisive blow against lignite or brown coal, the dirtiest fuel around and Germany's main source of electricity.

Germany views itself as a leader in the push against climate change. It is probably the world's most enthusiastic investor in renewable energy, mainly wind and sun. But even the powerful Chancellor Angela Merkel couldn't quite pull it off.