Coal power generation declines in United Kingdom as natural gas, renewables grow

U.S. Energy Information Administration -------- In the United Kingdom, electricity produced from coal declined from 42% of total electricity generation in 2012 to 7% in 2017. According to U.K. National Grid data, on April 21, 2017, the country went 24 hours without any electricity generated from coal for the first time since the 1880s. In January 2018, the U.K. government laid out an implementation plan to shut down all coal-fired electricity generation plants by 2025 that do not have carbon capture and storage technology. Coal consumption has been declining in the United Kingdom for decades. Total coal consumption peaked at 244 million short tons (MMst) in 1956, the year the United Kingdom enacted the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act—prompted by the great London smog of 1952—prohibited the emission of dark smoke from industrial buildings, private homes, and railroad locomotives. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.