Ban on Coal fired electricity brought forward to October 2024
The end of Coal fired electricity has been brought forward a year. From October 1st, 2024, the UK will no longer have coal as part of its energy mix.
End of Fossil Fuels use
The end of coal power in the UK will be phased out over the next three years however the ban only applies to coal-fired electricity generation. Use of the fossil fuel will be allowed to continue in industrial sectors such as for steel making where it is used to power the furnaces needed.
Coal mines in the UK will also be allowed to continue to operate with the extracted coal being used for industry both at home and abroad. Coal exports will be allowed for electricity generation, but the UK government is calling for other nations to follow the UK’s lead and announce their own legally binding phase-out dates.
Currently, coal power makes up just 1.8% of the nation’s total energy mix, a stark difference to the 40% a decade ago. The UK’s massive shift to renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro and solar is to hit the 2050 target of hitting NetZero carbon emissions.
“Coal powered the industrial revolution 200 years ago, but now is the time for radical action to completely eliminate this dirty fuel from our energy system. Today we’re sending a clear signal around the world that the UK is leading the way in consigning coal power to the history books and that we’re serious about decarbonising our power system so we can meet our ambitious, world-leading climate targets. “The next decade will be make, or break, for our planet and the most powerful way we can make a difference is to end our reliance on coal,” said Energy and Climate change minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
Also read: A Brief History of Energy- Coal
What’s left?
A government-led consultation into the possibility of bringing forward the phase-out date for coal from 2025 was started in February 2020.
Since then, the number of coal power stations has shrunk dramatically until now there are just a handful left in operation.
Drax closed its two coal power stations in March last year whilst EDF has announced that it will be shutting down its West Burton A station in September next year.
From 2022 there will be just one coal-powered station operational in the entire UK.
Also read: UK Electricity Grid has Greenest day on record
Will it make a difference globally?
The UK is hoping to lead the way when it comes to renewable energy and hopes that by leading by example other nations will follow suit.
Despite this countries such as China and India, by far the worlds largest polluters show no signs of slowing down the expansion of their coal power station building.
According to data from the think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM) China built three times as many new coal power stations as all the other nations in the world combined in 2020. This means that China is building one large new coal power station every single week. New coal power projects started in the country are five times as many as all other countries combined. In short Chinaʼs coal, fleet grew by 29.8GW in 2020, while the rest of the world’s net capacity decreased by 17.2GW.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has claimed that he wants the country to be carbon neutral by 2060 but the CCP are notorious when it comes to making false promises. Whilst the rest of the world resorts to renewable energy sources China will be powering ahead using fossil fuels.
The UK government will be hoping that the COP26 conference due to be held in Glasgow will see breakthroughs and put pressure on other nations to reduce their reliance on coal. How successful their
efforts will be remains to be seen.
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Further Reading
Domestic Electricity use soared in the 1st quarter of 2021 new BEIS Data reveals
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