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Britain goes a week without burning coal smashing previous record

British power plants have gone a whole week without burning a lump of coal, it was confirmed this afternoon, nearly doubling the previous record set earlier this year.

As of 1.30pm, the country’s electricity networks were coal-free for 168 hours – a whole week.

Read more: Britain must cut emissions to zero by mid-century, government told

It breaks the past record of 90 hours and 45 minutes, which was set over the Easter weekend.

It comes as rising solar and wind power slowly pushes coal, the most polluting of the major fossil fuels, out of Britain's energy mix.

Data shows that over the coal-free week, 45 per cent of energy generation was met by gas, 21 per cent by nuclear, 11 per cent by wind, 10 per cent from imports, six per cent each from biomass and solar, and one per cent from large hydro power.

Last year the UK decreased carbon emissions by two per cent, and overall greenhouse gases fell by three per cent, as coal plants came offline.

Total greenhouse emissions have dropped 44 per cent since 1990, according to government data, to 449m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

In 1990 coal made up around two-thirds of the UK’s electricity supply.

In total, Britain has gone for more than 1,000 hours without using coal so far this year, a two-thirds reduction in the first four months of the year compared to 2018.

Read more: UK emissions fall for the sixth year running

A spokesperson for the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on Sunday said: “Decarbonising our energy system is a crucial part of our commitment to ending our contribution to global warming. This year we’ve already reached the major milestone of 1,000 hours without using coal to power our homes and industry.

“We’re closing in on phasing out coal entirely from our power system by 2025 as our renewables sector goes from strength to strength on our path to becoming the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions.”