Power station's last coal delivery arrives by rail
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire received its final coal delivery, marking the end of its coal era. The station plans to transition to zero-carbon technology, symbolizing the UK's energy shift.
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The Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire received its final coal delivery by rail, signaling the end of its era as the UK's last coal-fired power station set to close in September. The 1,650-tonne delivery is expected to be the last fuel shipment to the site, which has been operational for 57 years. The delivered coal could power approximately 500,000 homes for eight hours. The site's operator, Uniper, is looking towards a future where the station could transition into a zero-carbon technology and energy hub for the East Midlands, exploring options like hydrogen production. The rail operator, GB Railfreight, named one of its locomotives "Ratcliffe Power Station" to commemorate the occasion. Coal and rail have historically played significant roles in driving British prosperity, with Ratcliffe-on-Soar having generated enough power to make over a billion cups of tea daily during its lifetime. Coal's contribution to the UK's energy generation has significantly decreased over the years, falling to just 1% last year from over 95% at the end of the last century.
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7 commentshttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/21/end-times-f...
That looks like an impressive change, even if the coal use hasn't been replaced with renewables. But looking up details, the 95% number doesn't appear to be true:
- "Energy mix of UK"[1] shows no time when coal was above ~55%, and even total fossil fuel use was over 95% in 1965, not around the year 2000. But this may be total energy use, not just for electric (not sure).
- "UK electricity production by source"[2] shows that around the year 2000 fossil fuels made up perhaps about 70% of the mix.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Energy_mix_of_UK.svg [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UK_electricity_production...
The most British unit of energy measurement possible. What would the American version be? Hamburger patties cooked? Smartphones charged? Highway miles driven?
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