The United Kingdom will become the first G7 country to end coal power production this Monday (30) with the closure of its last such plant, Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar, in the Midlands, England. .
This will end more than 140 years of coal power in the UK.
In 2015, the country announced plans to close coal plants over the next decade as part of broader measures to meet its climate goals. At that time, almost 30% of the country’s electricity came from coal, but that fell to just over 1% last year.
The fall in coal power production has helped reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, which have more than halved since 1990.
The country, which aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, also plans to “decarbonize” the electricity sector by 2030, a move that will require a rapid increase in the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar.
Emissions from energy generation are equivalent to around three-quarters of total greenhouse gas emissions, and scientists point out that the use of fossil fuels must be contained to achieve the goals defined in the Paris climate agreement.
In April, the G7’s major industrialized countries agreed to phase out coal power in the first half of the next decade, but also gave some leeway to economies that are heavily dependent on coal, drawing criticism from activist groups.
Coal power still makes up more than 25% of Germany’s electricity and more than 30% of Japan’s power.
This content was originally published in UK will be first G7 country to close all coal power plants on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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