Britain went without coal for four hours this week

Britain has marked a major milestone in the global transition away from fossil fuels, with no coal stations running from midnight to 4 am on 10 May.

This is the first instance of the UK receiving no power from coal since its first coal-fired power plant opened in 1882.

This week also marked the first time that solar generated more electricity than coal in the UK over the period of an entire week.

Professor Will Steffen, from Australia’s Climate Council, said the occurrence is “a landmark milestone” in the UK’s journey to phase out coal by 2025.

“We’ve seen similar progress in transitioning energy systems away from fossil fuels in many of Australia’s other major allies and trading partners,” Professor Steffen noted. “The US’s use of coal for electricity dropped to the lowest levels in history last year and China is shutting more than 1000 coalmines this year.”

However, Professor Steffen claimed that Australia has demonstrated “none of that commitment to transitioning away from coal, despite our pledges to do our share in the worldwide effort to keeping global temperature rise to well below 2°C”.

“The green light has been given to the enormous Adani Carmichael mine and the pollution from that mine would cancel out Australia’s pledged annual emissions reduction,” he said. “There is no plan for the orderly closure of Australia’s ageing and polluting coal-fired power stations and our emissions continue to rise.”

Professor Steffen urged Australia to join the rest of the world in “seizing the opportunities of the global renewables boom”, before we get left behind.