After powering the British economy for centuries, coal is a dying breed in the nations energy mix.
The combustible sedimentary rock accounted for as much as 40 per cent of the electricity generation only six years ago, but that figure dropped to 5 per cent last year. By the middle of the next decade, there wont be any plants left at all as the government plans to go completely coal free.
Though still the most widely used in the world to generate power, coal is to a large extent a victim of the plunging costs for wind and solar. Only a few years ago, it was unfathomable to build an energy system without it.
