Column: Europe's climate credentials sullied by coal import binge
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Loading... - Joao Sousa
- 12 Sep 2022
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Europe's hard-earned climate champion credentials are being tarnished after it boosted thermal coal imports by more than any other region in the first eight months of 2022.
The Continent was the only region to increase coal imports from January through August compared with the same slot in 2021, bringing in 35.5% or 15 million tonnes more of the power generation fuel, according to data from Kpler.
The 57.3 million tonnes of thermal coal tracked by Kpler into Europe through August accounted for 9.5% of global thermal imports during that period, and was Europe's highest total and share of coal trade for that slot since 2018.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February disrupted natural gas and fuel shipments from that region, an urgent reshuffling of energy imports by European utilities was inevitable.
Even so, the increased purchases reverses a years-long decline in European coal imports, and potentially undermines efforts made over the past decade to establish Europe as a renewable energy leader and serious advocate for cutting coal use. Read More...
