Britain Went Coal Free For A Day, Maybe An Anti-Climate Change Trend?

A coal mine near Gillette, Wyoming. Will demand for coal
fade away in the coming decades and we won't burn it
anymore? Climate scientists and activists would like that. 

On a Friday in April,  the entire nation of Great Britain met all of its energy needs without burning so much as one lump of coal.

It was the first time since 1882 that Great Britain went an entire day without burning coal to power factories, homes, businessees and whatnot, according to the BBC.

To cut carbon emissions, Britain plans to phase out its last coal burning plants by 2025. The British National Grid said the coal-free day was a "watershed moment" for the country.

It was a symbolic moment - Britain quickly returned to burning some coal - but it's another powerful sign that coal is on its way out. And good riddance.

I know, I know Donald Trump says he's going to bring all those coal mining job back.

However, despite Trump and other conservatives' denials, people are getting more and more concerned about climate change, and coal is steadily becoming a pariah product.

It's got bad optics nowadays. Coal is considered among the worst emitters of carbon dioxide, which feeds climate change. The search is on for cleaner energy.  Nobody wants coal anymore.

Well, that's not quite true. Developing nations are still buying it up, so demand for coal is expected to stay at current levels or even rise slightly between now and 2021. But that's a big switch. Until recently, worldwide coal demand kept spiraling up.

The BBC said that the coal-free day in April is believed to be the first time since 1882 that Britain did not use coal for energy usage at all. That time in 1882 was the first time coal was used to generate electricity from a centralize public coal-fired generator.

I wonder if we're coming up on the last day that will happen?