The mayors of four megacities have their say about the future in a letter that perfectly summarises how cities can play a crucial role in fighting climate change and creating a greener world.
United Kingdom to quit coal by 2025
Le centrali a carbone inglesi saranno dismesse entro il 2025, per far posto a quelle a gas, ma anche al nucleare. Una vittoria a metà.
The news comes from the country where coal made history: the UK will gradually close the old and obsolete coal power stations by 2025, to switch to gas and nuclear. The announcement has been made just a few weeks ahead of the COP21 by Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
“It cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon-intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations. Let me be clear: this is not the future,” said the minister.
However, it is half a victory. As The Guardian reports, the country will invest in gas and nuclear, rather than in renewables. Moreover, this comes shortly after the UK’s announcement of cutting solar panel subsidies by 90% starting from 2016.
The WWF considers it a crucial decision though, since coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, producing the highest amount of CO2 emissions. For this reason, the environmental association asks Italy to follow such example, given that Italian coal power stations represent 13.5% of electricity, and weigh on CO2 emissions (40%) and pollution. “Currently, Italy does not need the energy produced from coal: it boasts an overabundance in the offer for electricity production”.
Furthermore, Greenpeace confirms that Enel has presented an update of its industrial plan to strengthen its decarbonisation strategy, and it will invest up to 53% in renewables, whilst the investments in conventional energy generation will drop by 17%.
Andrea Boraschi, responsible of Greenpeace’s energy and climate campaign, has declared: “Future-oriented countries and the most innovative companies make clear choices: they quit coal and switch to clean technologies. UK’s choice is significant, being the country where coal gave life to the industrial era”.
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