Britain has not used power from coal for TWO WEEKS – the first time since the industrial revolution
- Britain has enjoyed more coal-free hours in May than it did for the whole of 2017
- This means that Great Britain has not needed energy from coal for 336 hours
- The last record for the longest time without coal, set in May, was 193 hours
Coal has not been burnt in the UK for two weeks as Britain hits a new clean energy record by generating electricity without coal for two weeks.
The new record marks the longest period that coal has not helped power Britain since the industrial revolution.
National Grid said yesterday: ‘We can now confirm that Great Britain’s electricity system will pass the fortnight mark for no coal generation this afternoon! The last coal generator came off the system at 3.12pm on 17th May – meaning we will achieve #coalfreefortnight at 3:12pm today!!’
This means Great Britain has not needed coal – considered a highly polluting way to produce energy fuel for 336 hours.
The last record was 193 hours, set at the beginning of May.
Coal has not been burnt in the UK for two weeks as Britain hits a new clean energy record by generating electricity without coal for two weeks (stock image)
The new record marks the longest period that coal has not helped power Britain since the industrial revolution. This image shows National Grid confirming the record on Twitter
Britain has enjoyed more coal-free hours this month (679 hours) than it did for the whole of 2017 (624 hours). Its first coal-free day was in April 2017.
RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Emma Pinchbeck said: ‘Coal was the backbone of the last industrial revolution – but this old technology is being beaten by wind energy, the powerhouse of our 21st century economy.
‘Renewables are providing well over a third of our electricity today, and this is just the beginning.
‘We need to move from fossil fuels right across the economy to avoid the enormous risks of climate disruption and to benefit from modern, clean, technologies.
‘But the Government’s scientific advisors say that we can only achieve a net zero economy with a massive increase in renewable electricity to power the change.
‘We need to act now to build on the coal phase-out and our world-leading renewables industry, including technologies like innovative wave and tidal power and fantastically cheap onshore wind’.
Great Britain has not needed coal – considered a highly polluting way to produce energy fuel for 336 hours. The last record was 193 hours, set at the beginning of May (stock image)
The government plans to phase out the UK’s last coal-fired plants by 2025. Producing power without coal is the ‘new normal’, the National Grid said when the one week record was smashed last week.
Powering Britain instead of coal were nuclear, solar, wind, gas and wood pellets, according to National Grid.
Britain’s first coal power station was opened in 1882 at Holborn Viaduct and built by the Edison Electric Light Company.
