No country will be truly coal-free until they are a net energy exporter and they do not import any goods that use coal-based energy in their supply chain. Europe has de-industrialized which means it has effectively exported its coal burden.
Great to see, hopefully they can end turf burning too. (For those unaware it's basically where you take a wetland habitat that's also an amazing carbon store, cut it in to chunks, dry it out, and burn it for a very dirty heat source)
secondcoming 3 minutes ago [-]
Can't beat a good turf fire though!
rithdmc 32 minutes ago [-]
I don't think turf (peat) has been burned for energy generation since 2023.
CalRobert 26 minutes ago [-]
True, I was referring to domestic heat in rural areas.
rithdmc 7 minutes ago [-]
I think the domestic heating use is a drop in the bucket compared to commercial extraction of peat for export, or historical use for electricity generation.
I've only so many shits to give, and people heating their homes doesn't rank.
redfloatplane 10 minutes ago [-]
I think that's going to be very, very hard to sell to many people here in rural Ireland (Roscommon in my case). I would really love to see people stop burning turf but it's such a strong cultural thing that in some parts you'd be ostracised for even thinking the thought.
I've personally spoken to people (who are otherwise quite environmentally aware) who suggest they'd never vote for the Green Party because they'd take their turf away. It's a tough sell.
redfloatplane 8 minutes ago [-]
Your username made me chuckle!
rithdmc 5 minutes ago [-]
;) thanks.
eitau_1 16 minutes ago [-]
Damn, and my country consumes 11 million out of 13 million tonnes of coal used for heating houses in the entire EU.
oezi 2 minutes ago [-]
Tell me where you are from without telling me where you are from...
Poland I guess?
redfloatplane 1 hours ago [-]
(June 2025)
elAhmo 20 minutes ago [-]
I always wondered why someone decides to post something fairly old, as this is 'not really news' given it is so old.
rob74 17 minutes ago [-]
Because they somehow stumbled upon the article, thought it was interesting, and submitted it, not necessarily looking at the date?
throwaway613746 9 minutes ago [-]
[dead]
11 minutes ago [-]
12 minutes ago [-]
cbdevidal 1 hours ago [-]
Just in time for an energy crisis :-)
rwmj 59 minutes ago [-]
They'd be better off with (and are building out) offshore and onshore wind. If you've ever been to the west coast of Ireland you'll know they've got almost unlimited wind energy. The country is targeting 5GW of capacity by 2030 and 37GW in the distant future[1].
If only they could harness the power of rain, Ireland would truly be an energy superpower.
> If only they could harness the power of rain, Ireland would truly be an energy superpower.
I know this is in jest, but that's basically "dam up some valley rivers and put a hydroelectric generator on the end", and unfortunately Ireland isn't so good for that. (It's not just the physical geology, it's also all the people living in the places you'd flood).
Hydro as a battery is easier and works in far more locations, but that's not harnessing the power *of rain*.
But yes, Ireland and the UK have an absolutely huge wind power resource available around them, IIRC enough to supply all of Europe if the grid connections were there to export it all.
Gravityloss 54 minutes ago [-]
Are they selling to UK that AFAIU stopped building wind 10 years ago. Regulatory advantage...
amiga386 24 minutes ago [-]
You're mistaken.
Onshore wind in England was de-facto but not de-jure banned by the Tories in 2018, due to a footnote inserted in their National Planning Policy Framework. Labour removed this footnote in 2024, immediately after winning the election. [0]
Offshore wind was never affected, nor onshore wind in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Tories during 2015-2023 made construction of new onshore wind farms all but impossible (removed subsidies and made planning permissions very difficult). I would assume Labor could reverse these polices but haven't seen anything in news about this.
In 2000, coal was about 20% of the energy mix, gas another 20%, oil about 50%. Wind was 0%. In 2024 coal was about 2%, gas still 20%, oil still 50%, but wind grew to about 15%. It seems that wind actually replaced coal. It is not only logical, but good, that wind first replaced coal (dirtiest), and maybe from now on is will start to replace oil. Only after many decades, or maybe never, gas will be replaced.
rithdmc 3 minutes ago [-]
I'm not sure where that data comes from. Oil was only around 3% in 2024.
I've only so many shits to give, and people heating their homes doesn't rank.
I've personally spoken to people (who are otherwise quite environmentally aware) who suggest they'd never vote for the Green Party because they'd take their turf away. It's a tough sell.
Poland I guess?
If only they could harness the power of rain, Ireland would truly be an energy superpower.
[1] https://www.irishtimes.com/special-reports/2025/10/30/winds-...
I know this is in jest, but that's basically "dam up some valley rivers and put a hydroelectric generator on the end", and unfortunately Ireland isn't so good for that. (It's not just the physical geology, it's also all the people living in the places you'd flood).
Hydro as a battery is easier and works in far more locations, but that's not harnessing the power *of rain*.
But yes, Ireland and the UK have an absolutely huge wind power resource available around them, IIRC enough to supply all of Europe if the grid connections were there to export it all.
Onshore wind in England was de-facto but not de-jure banned by the Tories in 2018, due to a footnote inserted in their National Planning Policy Framework. Labour removed this footnote in 2024, immediately after winning the election. [0]
Offshore wind was never affected, nor onshore wind in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
[0] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-statement-...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_United_Kingd...
Also https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/14/offshore...
Also https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/10/uk-onshore-...
In 2000, coal was about 20% of the energy mix, gas another 20%, oil about 50%. Wind was 0%. In 2024 coal was about 2%, gas still 20%, oil still 50%, but wind grew to about 15%. It seems that wind actually replaced coal. It is not only logical, but good, that wind first replaced coal (dirtiest), and maybe from now on is will start to replace oil. Only after many decades, or maybe never, gas will be replaced.
https://www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-statistics/electr...
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/energy-consumption-by-sou...