The United Kingdom will end its use of coal-fired power by October 2024, a year earlier than scheduled, as it pushes other countries toward greater cl

U.K. Will Stop Using Coal Power in Just Three Years

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2021-07-01 19:30:08

The United Kingdom will end its use of coal-fired power by October 2024, a year earlier than scheduled, as it pushes other countries toward greater climate ambition ahead of a global warming summit it's hosting in November.

“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,” Energy and Climate Change Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a statement yesterday.

It won't have far to go. Coal accounted for just 1.8% of the U.K.'s electricity mix last year, with roughly 43% coming from renewable sources such as wind and solar, according to the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The government plans to introduce legislation on the coal phaseout “at the earliest opportunity,” it said. It will only apply to coal used in electricity generation, not other sectors such as the steel industry.

The U.K. has come a long way from the days when a thick blanket of coal-fueled smog fell over London in the 1950s. As recently as a decade ago, coal accounted for roughly 40% of the country's power generation.

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