LITTLETON, Colo. – 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 percent or 15 million tons more of the power generation fuel, according to data from Kpler.
The 57.3 million tons of thermal coal tracked by Kpler into Europe through August accounted for 9.5 percent 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.
Since 2010, scores of coal plants have been retired across Europe and elsewhere amid an intensifying backlash against dirty fuels and a broad adoption of lower-emitting energy sources that can help combat climate change.
Over the same period, Europe spent big on green energy installations, and increased the share of electricity generated from renewable sources by roughly 15 percentage points to nearly 38 percent – second only to Latin America, according to Enerdata.
The region has also set some of the world’s boldest renewable energy usage targets, including a goal of having 32 percent of total energy consumption – which includes transportation, households and industry – from renewable sources by 2030.
