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Britain Goes a Week Without Coal Power for the First Time in 137 Years

posted by martyb on Thursday May 09 2019, @04:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the smug-in-a-smog-free-world dept.

SemperOSS writes:

BBC:

Britain has gone a week without burning any coal to make electricity - the first coal-free week since [...] the Industrial Revolution. [...] The world's first coal-fired power station was opened in London in 1882.

According to data, no coal has been used by power stations in Britain since around 1pm on 1 May. Instead, other sources of power have taken over, such as wind turbines, gas and nuclear power.

"We believe that, by 2025, we will be able to fully operate Great Britain's electricity system with zero carbon," said a spokesperson for the National Grid.

Time for British Prime Minister Theresa May to celebrate with more flights to Brussels?

Also at: Financial Times (Paywalled), Bloomberg, Ars Technica, and Fox News.

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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 09 2019, @04:51PM (6 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 09 2019, @04:51PM (#841399) Journal

    No more carrying coal to Newcastle?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
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  • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday May 09 2019, @04:59PM (3 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Thursday May 09 2019, @04:59PM (#841403) Homepage Journal

    Don't worry, America has more beautiful Clean Coal than anybody in the entire World. And we'll send it to Newcastle. Or anywhere else. But, not for free. Not for free and I think possibly, they didn't run out of Coal. They ran out of the cheap Coal. And until Brexit happens that's the only kind they can afford. Must TAKE BACK COUNTRY!!!

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Thursday May 09 2019, @05:02PM (1 child)

      by SomeGuy (5632) on Thursday May 09 2019, @05:02PM (#841408)

      So, how many politicians does it take to make those wind turbines go, anyway? :P

      • (Score: 4, Funny) by bob_super on Thursday May 09 2019, @06:23PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Thursday May 09 2019, @06:23PM (#841467)

        They used to spin because the world revolved around them.
        These days, they're powered mostly by Brexit flip-flopping.

    • (Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday May 10 2019, @07:56AM

      by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 10 2019, @07:56AM (#841749)

      Was that "Newcastle" or "Nuke Asshole" ?

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by bob_super on Thursday May 09 2019, @05:00PM (1 child)

    by bob_super (1357) on Thursday May 09 2019, @05:00PM (#841406)

    Soon, they'll have to carry wind to the North Sea, since they will have depleted all the local resource with all those windmills!
    And the brave men doing the job will get windmill cancer!
    It's a travesty!