By Ahmad Sabbagh '17
In preparation for the two-week United Nations conference that will be taking place in Paris starting November 30, Britain has announced a plan to close down all coal-fired power plants by 2025. Furthermore, Britain announced that the use of these plants would be restricted two years before that. Britain’s goal is to become the leader in cutting carbon dioxide emissions in the developed world as it hopes to be the first developed country to take coal off its system.
Britain’s energy infrastructure has been largely dependent on coal as one of it’s largest and most reliable sources of energy, representing over 20 percent of the country’s electricity generation. Other sources include natural gas representing over 30 percent, renewable sources like wind and solar energy representing 25.3 percent, and nuclear energy representing 21.5 percent.
Critics of the plan have argued that it would not be feasible closing down all coal-fired power plants due to limitations of the other sources of energy. Electricity providers are already struggling as they have tried to incorporate renewable sources into their infrastructure. These sources, however, are unreliable and costly. Thus, eradicating a reliable energy source like coal would put even more pressure on electrical providers. Britain hopes to solve this problem through advances in the renewable energy industry, announcing its plan to cut subsidies and, thus, force the industry to become more effective and cost-efficient.
Other seeming fallacies to the plan include the facts that Britain is not scheduled to open any new nuclear plants until the year 2025 and that it has stopped investing in natural gas-fired plants because of their expense. Hence, if the country cannot generate more energy from nuclear and natural-gas fired plants and renewable energy is unreliable, the question arises: Where will Britain get the energy it will lose by shutting down its coal-fired plants? To answer the confusion, a more detailed plan is underway, and Britain will release its first assessment in the spring.
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