Portugal becomes fourth EU country to quit coal
Portugal reportedly shut down its final coal plant over the weekend, ending its use in electricity generation, becoming only the fourth nation in the EU to cease use of the fossil fuel to the praise of environmental activists despite considering it a "warning" for the nation's green goals.
The last remaining coal plant in the country, located in Pego, ran out of coal stock on Friday, November 19 - ten days ahead of schedule - which meant the following day was the final day coal was responsible for energy generation in the nation, despite its lease still being active until the end of November.
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The country had previously vowed to phase out coal by 2030 at the COP23 summit in Bonn back in 2017.
Other countries to have quit coal include Belgium, which ceased the use of coal in electricity generation in 2016, with Austria and Sweden both phasing it out in 2020.
Other countries, such as the UK, Greece, Hungary and Denmark have launched plans to phase out coal.
According to the Portugal Resident, the country's environment minister Pedro Matos Fernandes described the situation as "very good news", but revealed there were still a number of questions to be asked about the road to cleaner energy.
Despite roughly 54% of the nation's electricity being generated through renewable means, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the country still relies on fossil fuels for its energy needs.
Expresso reports he will be meeting with the plant's workers in the near future to "put their minds at rest". The plant's owner, energy company Endesa, is allegedly considering converting the plant to burn wood pellets, which will do little to alleviate greenhouse gas emissions compared with coal.
“Portugal is the perfect example of how once a country commits to quitting coal, the pace of the phase-out inevitably accelerates", said Kathrin Gutmann, Europe Beyond Coal's campaign director.
“Coal’s dire economics and public desire for climate action are driving faster and faster phaseouts across Europe. The challenge now is to ensure utilities do not make the mistake of replacing coal with fossil gas, or unsustainable biomass", she added.
Coal currently represents the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Environment group Zero revealed that, before the shutdown, the plant represented 4% of all of Portugal's greenhouse gas emissions - making it the second-highest emitter in the country.
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“Freeing ourselves from our biggest source of greenhouse gases is a momentous day for Portugal. But it is soured by the prospect of the plant being converted to burn forests,” said Francisco Ferreira, the environment group's president.
“Ditching coal only to switch to the next worst fuel is clearly not an answer. Instead, the focus should be on rapidly upscaling our renewable energy capacity in wind and solar.”
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