Renewable Energy Pushing Out Coal in EU

Reuters reported that coal demand in the European Union is set to being a “decades-long slide” as the fuel is displaced by renewable energy.

As quoted in the market news:

Over the past decade, coal’s share of the EU’s power generation fuel mix has stayed roughly around a quarter as utilities pay low prices for coal and for emissions permits under the EU’s carbon trading scheme.

But EU member countries’ policies on renewables and new power plants are finally starting to have an impact on the need for coal.

The European Union’s coal-fired generation is likely to be down by 3 percent in the final three months of this year from the 2012 fourth quarter and by 5 percent in January-March from the 2013 first quarter, Point Carbon estimates.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.