In the ongoing push for a greener future, we find ourselves drawn time and again to success stories: record-breaking solar arrays and sprawling wind farms focused on pointing out a fossil-free future. Of course, these are important, and they bring into the limelight human ingenuity designed to capture clean energy.

But beneath this optimistic narrative lies a reality we cannot ignore: coal remains a cornerstone of energy for the world’s largest economies. For countries such as India and China, coal’s grip on energy production is not loosening; in fact, it may tighten as those countries strive to keep energy affordable.

India’s affair with coal is a love-hate one, reflecting any contradiction at the heart of today’s energy transition. In recent months, India has seen a dip in coal-generated power, driven in part by increased solar output and lower demand. It may sound promising on the surface—a snare indicating that renewables are making progress. But not so fast.

In the current fiscal year, demand for coking coal—the indispensable feedstock for making steel—is at a six-year high. India has an ambitious push in solar, but that hasn’t dented its reliance on coal a great deal, particularly in industrial sectors where renewables can ill afford to replace.

But this dependence on coal goes beyond electricity; it’s a matter of sustaining economic growth. India’s steel industry, for instance, relies on coking coal to supply the fast-growing demand from construction and manufacturing. In other words, while solar might electrify homes, coal is indispensable in India’s industrial economy. For a country trying to raise living standards for more than a billion people, coal is indispensable because of its affordability and availability.

Similarly, in China—often touted as the world leader in renewable capacity—there is a paradoxical view on the........

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