UK Breaks Coal-Free Record
The UK government announced June 20 that a new record for the most hours in a year without using coal for energy has been set.
The country has already spent 1,976 hours coal free in 2019, breaking 2018’s record of 1,975.5 hours coal-free with only just over six months of the year gone, the government said in a statement. The achievement means the UK has stripped 5m metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, the equivalent of over 12bn miles driven in a car.
The National Grid has said that the UK is on track for a record breaking year for renewable generation.
The UK recently became the world’s first major economy to enshrine in law a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, subject to a five-year review.
“We’ve set in stone our commitment to end our contribution to climate change entirely by 2050 and this is yet another step on the path to becoming a net zero emissions economy,” said energy minister Chris Skidmore in a statement.
“Coal is fast becoming the fossil of our energy system and it will soon be consigned to the history books,” he continued. “To ensure this happens as soon as possible, we have committed to phasing out coal entirely by 2025 and we’re supporting our world leading renewables sector to thrive through record levels of investment.”