Britain Sets New Record for Energy Use: No Coal-Free for 100 Hours

If you close your eyes and try to get a mental picture of mid-20th Century London, you probably wind up with something like the shot at left here.

In fact, the entirety of the Industrial Revolution was made possible by the introduction of fossil fuels; this was the first time in history that the power available to an individual person exceeded that which was provided by his own muscles (and perhaps those of his horse or ox).  Coal, mined and burned for heat, for mechanical power, and later for electricity enabled an enormous amount of human progress.  Unfortunately, we paid for it with an equally enormous amount of damage for our bodies and to our environment.

Perhaps that’s why this record-breaking accomplishment is so meaningful: Of the 31.45 gigawatts (GW) powering the UK on May 5, none was accounted for by the use of coal-fired power stations,

Will this be a momentary “flash in the pan?”  Nope.  Coal now accounts for under 10 per cent of Britain’s power output and the government plans to phase out the country’s last coal-fired power plants by 2025 in a bid to cut carbon emissions.  Good news for everyone with lungs.