text: Why are emissions rising so quickly? We can find the answer largely in the coal numbers. Last year, global coal use grew by about 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Let's compare that soaring coal use with what's happening with the political darlings of the moment: wind and solar energy. According to the BP data, global wind-energy production grew by about 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and solar grew by about 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Thus, in 2013, global coal use grew at a rate that was roughly four times that of wind and 13 times that of solar.