Vast majority of EU coal plants are unprofitable.

Four-fifths of coal-fired power plants in the European Union do not make money, says a new report from Carbon Tracker, a think-tank focused on the impact of climate change on financial markets. The study suggests that utilities in Europe could lose 6.6 billion euros ($7.3bn) this year alone from inefficient and highly polluting facilities.

The report, Apocoalypse Now, recommends to policymakers and investors that coal should be fully phased out by 2030. Importantly, the research demonstrates that the coal industry cannot survive without major subsidies...