Coal Archives

Poland is not planning a quicker end to using coal, the government said on Wednesday (30 August), criticising state-controlled utility PGE for bringing forward its carbon neutrality target by a decade to 2040.

Fossil fuels produced just 33% of the EU's power in the first half of this year, the lowest share on record based on data going back to 1990, researchers said on Wednesday (30 August).

France will allow the functioning of its remaining coal-fired power stations until the end of 2024 to get through the winter safely, according to a decree recently penned by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

The European Commission wants to keep the Just Transition Fund for European coal regions in the next programming period beyond 2027 if the programme succeeds in the current one – something Czechia’s coal regions are clearly pleased about.

Warsaw decided to drop its energy policy update ahead of the upcoming Autumn elections in order to avoid upsetting the nation's coal lobby. However, in its unofficial scenario, the government quietly admits that the decarbonisation of the Polish electricity system should accelerate, writes Michał Smoleń.

The European Union will push for a global pledge at COP28 to phase out unabated fossil fuels “well ahead of 2050”, EU climate chief Frans Timmermans announced. EURACTIV's media partner, Climate Home News, reports.

Kazakhstan is “completely dependent” on Russia when it comes to balancing energy needs and the best solution is to create a transnational electricity grid in Central Asia, similar to the one in Europe, a Kazakh expert told a Brussels audience on Tuesday (4 July).

Berlin is fighting for South Africa to stay on track to phase out coal as agreed, despite domestic pushback against the planned mothballing of aged power plants amid an ongoing energy crisis.

The EU's 27 energy ministers failed to reach a common position on reforming the bloc's electricity market on Monday (19 June), following disagreements over subsidies for backup coal power generation and the lifetime extension of existing nuclear power plants.

France was not invited to a meeting of pro-renewables countries on Monday (19 June) after Paris delayed the adoption of the EU's renewable energy directive, an EU diplomat told EURACTIV.

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy use in the European Union fell by 2.8% last year, thanks to reduced use of natural gas following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Eurostat reported on Friday (9 June).

The head of the upcoming COP28 climate summit, who also is the chief executive of the UAE's national oil company, acknowledged Thursday (8 June) that a reduction in the use of fossil fuels is inescapable.

The future of fossil fuels – the leading source of planet-heating emissions – will face scrutiny at UN climate negotiations Monday (5 June) with an under-fire Emirati oil chief poised to step into the driver's seat.

Business associations have expressed concern over a proposed energy tax on fossil fuels in a letter to parliament claiming this could lead to a steep rise in costs due to a lack of alternative energy sources.

An ambitious new law to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector was approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday (9 May), despite a last-minute attempt by the far-right and conservative lawmakers to water down the regulation.

Šoštanj, the only remaining coal-fired power station in Slovenia, will likely only be operational in case of electricity shortages and high market prices until it is removed from the grid per the country's coal plan to phase out coal by …

Bulgaria risks losing €10 billion as politicians continue to be reluctant to carry out reforms for the Green Transition, a move that would ensure Bulgaria continues to produce polluting and expensive electricity from coal and stays uncompetitive.

Three coal mining regions in the Czech Republic want to become Central European leaders in hydrogen technologies, the joint memorandum signed by the three regions’ governors in Prague on Tuesday reads.

Czech and Polish political heads have settled the dispute over the coal mine Turow, but inhabitants of villages near the open-pit mine still face problems, EURACTIV.cz reports.

Czechia risks not being able to use about  €1.7 billion from the EU’s Just Transition Fund to help its regions move away from coal and transition to a green economy on time, a recent analysis shows.

Coking coal will stay on the EU list of critical raw materials after Poland, a key producer, succeeded in persuading the European Commission to keep it there.

Bulgarian politicians' gambling with the fate of people in coal regions and those affected by toxic air and the climate crisis is immoral and unacceptable, and a workable alternative for an energy future is needed, Apostol Dyankov writes.

European Union countries agreed on Thursday (9 March) to promote a "global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels" ahead of the United Nation's COP28 climate summit this year, attempting to boost a global deal that failed at last year's summit.

German workers support the transition towards climate neutrality, but do not want to move to a different place or obtain a job with lower pay for it, a new survey found.