Energy & Environment

UK goes 55 hours without using coal

Power plants in the United Kingdom stopped burning coal for 55 hours this week, besting the previous record of about 40 hours.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that power plants in the U.K. stopped using coal to generate electricity between 10:25 p.m. London time on Monday until 5:10 a.m. on Thursday. 

To compensate, wind turbines generated more electricity, according to Bloomberg. 

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The U.K. has already given renewable energy sources priority access to its power grid and plans to completely end its use of coal power plants in 2025. 

The fact that the U.K. went more than two days without burning coal underscores the waning role of the fossil fuel in powering some of the world’s largest economies.

But while the U.K. has invested heavily in renewables, President Trump has vowed to reduce environmental regulations and bolster the use of coal in the U.S. 

Still, the industry has been in decline for years. The Energy Information Agency projects that Americans will be less dependent on coal, and that coal capacity in the nation’s power plants is likely to decline in coming years.