Photo: Ian Usher/CC

The United Kingdom announced, this Monday (30), the closure of its last thermoelectric plant. With the measure, the plant stops operating after 57 years and places the country as the first among the group of the seven richest in the world, the G7, to give up the use of coal to produce electricity.

With the end of production at the eight chimneys of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant, which is close to Derby and Nottingham, the United Kingdom puts an end to a plan started in 2015 with the aim of meeting targets for reducing gas emissions greenhouse effect. By establishing a gradual decrease in coal use within a decade, the country has reduced fossil fuel use from 30% at that time to total elimination now.

The situation is seen as a historic milestone in the country, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In 1882, therefore, 142 years ago, the first coal-fired power station in the world was opened, the Holborn Viaduct. Now, in 2024, the use of coal in these plants will end under the specter of climate urgency.

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The policy adopted by the United Kingdom aims to meet a bold plan for net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in addition to fully decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2030.

To achieve the end of thermoelectric plants, the other G7 countries foresee other dates. Italy aims to achieve the same feat as the United Kingdom next year, while France aims to eliminate coal in power plants by 2027, Canada by 2030 and Germany by 2038. On the other hand, the United States and Japan do not have projections regarding the topic.

*With information from international agencies

Source: vermelho.org.br



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