UK coal use drops to 135-year low

Coal took root in Britain as the engine of the Industrial Revolution, but is now less popular as a source of electricity than ever.

Fossil fuels contributed only 2% of the total power generated in the UK in July, according to a study by Aurora Research. For the entire last year, coal consumption was 9% of the total, against 23% in 2015. In April, the UK spent a full day without coal as a sign that the days of fossil fuels were numbered.

“The decline in the share of coal in recent years is partly due to higher carbon prices and partly to the rise in renewable energy sources,” Richard Howard, research director for Aurora Energy, was quoted as saying in The Independent. "Coal loading ratios were even lower in August than in July and this trend continues."

The UK government has said it plans to completely cut coal use by closing all coal-fired power plants by 2025. The closure of coal mines, including Britain's last underground coal mine in 2015, has meant a dramatic cut in greenhouse gas emissions for the nation.

A new report notes that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, which fell nearly 6% in 2016, are at their lowest carbon pollution levels in the UK since 1894.

In addition to coal, UK electricity is also generated from natural gas (30%), nuclear (21%) and renewable energy (25%), according to a UK Energy report.