Later today Britain’s last remaining coal-fired power station will shut down, bringing to a close 142 years of power generation that began when the world’s first coal-fired power station, at 57 Holborn Viaduct in London, started operation on 12th January 1882.
When I created https://grid.iamkate.com in 2012, coal accounted for 40% of Britain’s power generation. It was overtaken by gas in 2015, nuclear and wind in 2016, and solar in 2019. As I write this, wind is producing 40% of Britain’s power.
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@kate I work in the building that’s now on that site. I’ll check if there’s any plaque etc tomorrow.
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@kate It's just a shame we are charged fossil fuel prices for what should be low cost renewables. UK has the highest commercial electricity cost in the world. Crazy.
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@pa27 @kate As I understand it a part of it is regulation weirdness but also a big chunk is that “low cost” renewables are low cost in operation but still require ongoing investment while we continue to transition to them.
Right now the benefits to end users aren’t financial, but hopefully will be in the longer term.
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@kate So key question - does coal lose its line on the dashboard, or stay there at permanent 0%?
(Thanks for the site).
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@kate if wind is producing 40%, why aren't our bills 40% lower?! 🙂
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@meatlotion @kate Wind turbines cost money to build and maintain, with ongoing investment needed to further expand renewable energy sources is why 😉
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@wiredfire @meatlotion @kate also AFAIK worn out wind turbine blades are a pain to safely dispose of
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@wolf480pl @meatlotion @kate I’ve heard that too. Seen the odd interesting project finding ways to re-use the blades as something else but that’s going to be a growing issue that will need a sensible solution. Granted that’s a small problem compared to storing nuclear waste or choking our atmosphere but still.
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@wiredfire @meatlotion @kate tbh I wouldn't be so sure vs nuclear waste - I'd expect them to be much smaller in terms mass and expecially volume, but I don't have the numbers at hand.
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@wolf480pl nuclear waste is physically going to be smaller most likely but much much harder to store safely.
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@kate There's a lot of doom and gloom with tbe state of the environment, so it's victories like this that help me regain some optimism 🙂
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@kate 40% wind! I had no idea it was so high. That's amazing
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@kate
Thank you for your work raising awareness and giving hope!
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@kate Esto le molará a @dictatriz incluida la web, si es que no la conoce ya.
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@shevek hace un tiempo comenté en Twitter la reducción de emisiones del sistema eléctrico de UK, que consistió en cambiar carbón por gas mientras se invertía en renovables.
@kate
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@kate to think our ridiculous little island has achieved something positive for once.
It can happen
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@kate Aaaand, its gone! https://x.com/NationalGridESO/status/1840773737030762694
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@kate That's a nice dashboard, there's unfortunately a mischaracterisation of nuclear power in the info bubbles:
https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy
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@kate This is great news, so long as the coal workers are cared for... 🌞
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@kate I am curious: is there any documentation on when Britain stopped using coal for purposes other than generating electricity? Is there any significant coal burning for any of those purposes still?
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@kate @siracusa On the website it says zero Battery Storage, where would domestic batteries be shown that export like my Powerwall.
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@kate - meanwhile in Germany https://youtu.be/azEvfD4C6ow?si=vD4oYsFO-wKk9OOM
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@kate Sorry, couldn't resist.
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@kate Timely XKCD
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@kate Also, at 17.00 today, the last batch of molten steel was poured into a crucible at the UK's last blast furnace in Port Talbot, South Wales.
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@kate I read the other day that Britain's current carbon emissions are at the lowest rate since the late 19th century
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@kate Historic!
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@kate by comparison the U.S. (in 2023) was powered by 60% fossil fuels.
Good job, America. So much winning.
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@kate As someone who still has runnning code (from the 80s) in a coal-fired power plant, I long for its obsolescence.
The first one I worked on shut down four years ago: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conesville_Power_Plant (I worked on the scrubber software for 5 & 6).
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