Renewables take over coal in Europe

generation has sharply increased in the EU, with wind, solar and biomass taking over coal. In 2017, they rose to 679 terawatt-hours, or by 12 per cent from the previous year, compared to coal's 669 terawatt-hours, says a report by energy think-tanks Sandbag and Agora Energiewende. The report hails it as an "incredible progress" since coal power was twice that of wind, solar and biomass five years ago, and says at this rate the EU can source 50 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2030. However, it warns that the share of renewables in various EU countries is growing unevenly, with the UK and Germany contributing to 56 per cent of the growth in the last three years. This may derail European Parliament's plan to enter into binding targets with member countries to boost the share of renewables in the energy mix to 35 per cent by 2030.