It is not often we hear good news about the environment, but 2017 is starting on a high as renewable energy has already had its first win of the year.
For the first time ever, wind farms in the UK are now providing more energy than burning coal, and not just by a fraction either.
In fact, coal-fuelled production plummet to only 9.2% in 2016, down a huge 13.4% from 22.6% in 2015.
And let’s not forget that in 2014, a huge 30% of Britain’s energy was still sourced from coal.
In its place, wind power was able to provide 11.5% of all energy used in 2016.
Simon Evans, policy editor at Carbon Brief told The Guardian: “The past 12 months have seen a year of firsts for the UK’s electricity system.
“At the broadest level, the UK grid is changing as centralized power stations are joined by thousands of smaller sites, particularly renewables.”
This shifting of the tide towards more earth-friendly energy marks a major milestone breaking away from coal, which has been growing since the industrial revolution in the 1800’s.
Three major coal power stations closed last year in Britain as part of the government’s pledge to cut coal power entirely by 2025 to meet carbon targets.
And wind power wasn’t the only win last year, as official figures revealed that in the last quarter of 2016 half of all the UK’s electricity came from a low carbon source.
It was also the year that saw Scotland was able to provide 106% of required energy requirements through renewable sources on a day in August.