Speaking at a recent energy summit in New York, Boyce said coal served as a buffer to higher natural gas prices, spikes in the cost of oil and the intermittency of renewables.
Boyce also warned that there would be a tough economic price to pay for other regions that pick and choose their energy sources.
“There's a reason why North America doesn’t want to mirror the European Union,” he said.
“Europe has seen job losses, sluggish economies and soaring energy costs as nations have faced high renewable energy mandates and a price on carbon.”
During the bitter-cold winter months this year, coal fuelled 90% of increased US electricity needs.
Coal's market share was double natural gas, according to Boyce, and the states that did not use coal wrestled with electricity costs that were nearly twice as much as the states that predominantly used coal for electricity.
“Affordable energy – largely fuelled by advanced coal – will help reindustrialise North America's economy, as we work to make the air cleaner every day,” he said.
Globally the picture is also stark, with enormous need for modern energy.
“Energy inequality is a crisis globally, with 3.5 billion people lacking enough power for basic needs that are essential for human development and greater longevity.
“The lack of proper energy leads to crippling impacts to human health, standards of living and damage to the environment.”
He said billions of people were forced to use direct fuels or biomass for cooking and heating, burning at the rate of two tonnes per family per year. Indoor smoke from daily fires resulted in staggering consequences and was estimated to be the fourth-leading cause of death globally.
“Our actions should not be guided by a modelled crisis, but by this very real human and environmental crisis.”
The world continues turning to coal to solve its largest energy and economic challenges.
Globally, one new 500 megawatt coal plant is being brought online every three days and the majority of this power is being developed as high-efficiency, supercritical and ultra-supercritical generation that delivers low emissions.
