The UK's last coal power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, stopped producing coal on Monday, marking an end to the country's 142-year reliance on the source of fuel which once turbocharged the Industrial Revolution.
"We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country," Minister for Energy Michael Shanks said, according to BBC.
Coal took birth in the UK at the time when the country lorded over a bevy of colonies, powering its supreme ambitions and lining its deep coffers.
"It's a really remarkable day, because Britain, after all, built her whole strength on coal, that is the industrial revolution," said Lord Deben - the longest serving environment secretary.
The Holborn Viaduct power station, the first coal-fired power station in the world, was built in 1882 in London by the inventor Thomas Edison.
Coal remained the most dominant source of energy for the UK for most of the 20th century and only gave way to gas and other renewables towards the 2000s when the environmental concerns could be overlooked no more.
In 2012, the country still generated 39 per cent of its power from coal.
The push for abandoning coal was formalised in 2008, when the UK established its first legally binding climate targets.
By the first half of 2024, the share of renewables in electricity generation had reached 50 per cent.
For India, coal remains the primary source of power generation.
The country, according to the coal ministry, gets 55 per cent of its energy needs from coal, generating more than 700 million tonnes a year – second only to China .
China, India, Indonesia, the US, and Australia are the top five coal producers in the world.
Image Source: Unplash
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