In 2022, for the first time in the European Union, photovoltaics overtook coal in electricity generation. Solar generated 210,249 GW compared to 205,693 GW for hard coal. An unprecedented piece of data that underscores the unstoppable race for renewables.
There was no doubt that this would be the case. With the EU’s emissions credit mechanism and new limits set for 2030, The days of coal are numbered. Now, data just published by the European Union's statistics agency, Eurostat, is the definitive proof of a delivery that can in some ways be defined as historic.
Solar energy is the new “fuel” of the European Union, which was born as a coal and steel community.
Let's remember that. The European Union was born as an economic link between coal and steel. Which was the dominant fuel throughout the 20th century. Gas could have dominated the new century had new policies not intervened to combat climate change. Paving the way for renewable energy sources.
Exceeding the energy generated by photovoltaic systems over coal-fired power plants reveals how the targets can be achieved. Moreover, Eurostat also explains how this can be done. Only Poland and the Czech Republic produce the remaining hard coal in the EU. Poland uses it only as a primary source of electricity production.
Nine EU countries still use coal-fired power plants.
Brown coal, a class of coal with a lower energy content, is used to generate electricity in 9 countries in the European Union. It was a source of 241,572 gigawatt hours of electricity.
The data on green energy overtaking fossil fuels follow each other, albeit with a time lag. Last July, it was announced that renewable energy sources as a whole are outperforming fossil fuels (coal and gas) in Europe.. A figure that also appeared for the first time in Italian statistics.
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