The British government has decided to bring forward the deadline for phasing out coal from the country’s energy system by one year, from October 2025 to 1 October 2024. The government will launch a consultation on advancing the deadline for ending unabated coal by one year.
In January 2018, the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) unveiled a phase-out plan for its eight remaining coal-fired power plants. An emission limit of up to 450 g/kWh for the domestic coal-fired power generation facilities would be set from October 2025 onwards so that "unabated" coal-fired plants (i.e. not equipped with carbon capture technologies) will be forced to close.
Coal-fired power generation in the United Kingdom has been falling since the introduction of a tax on CO2 emissions in 2013, from 144 TWh in 2012 to 17 TWh in 2018 (-88%). In 2018, coal only covered 5% of the power mix (2% in 2019 according to preliminary estimates), from 65% in 1990. This fall contributed to cutting British CO2 emissions from the power and heat production sector by 71% between 1990 and 2018
The British government also aims to bring forward a ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans to 2035, or even earlier if possible.
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