New Energy Is Setting Records In Europe

Europe keeps setting clean-energy records

Akshat Rathi, July 14, 2018 (Quartz)

“…[Two of the biggest economies in Europe just] set new records for clean energy...The UK’s electrical grid has not burned any coal for about 1,000 hours so far this year…[showing the accelerating] pace of the energy transition. In 2016 and 2017, the comparable figures for the full year stood at 210 hours and 624 hours…There are two reasons for the shift: a carbon tax on coal has made cleaner natural gas more attractive, and subsidies for solar and wind power have ensured wider deployment of new clean-energy technologies.

“…[Germany’s push for renewable energy began] much earlier than the UK…[but its coal lobby] is a lot stronger than in the UK…[As the costs of renewable energy have come down, change is finally showing. In 2018 so far, coal generated about 35.1% of the country’s electricity…[while New Energy] sources, such as solar, wind, and biomass, generated about 36.5%. At the half-year mark, it’s the first time in Germany’s history that renewables sources have generated more electricity than coal…The pace of change is expected to accelerate. The European Union is tightening its emissions-trading scheme…[and member nations just] agreed that each country must get 32% of all its energy from renewable sources by 2030.” click here for more

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