Coal generation in Europe fell by a fifth in the first half of this year, with almost every coal-burning country cutting back according to information published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Western Europe saw particularly dramatic drops in production, up to 79 per cent in Ireland, according to climate think-tank Sandbag.
At the same time there were times of zero or near-zero generation in many countries.
The United Kingdom, for example, switched off its coal plants for a fortnight in May for the first time.
In absolute terms, Germany saw the biggest drop, as it made substantial cutbacks in both hard coal and its dirtier relative lignite.
However, it remained responsible for over a third of the coal generation in the European Union so far this year, the research shows.
Renewable resources are slowly taking the place of coal, with both solar and wind energy rising across the EU.
However, the use of gas, another fossil fuel, has risen as coal disappears and carbon pricing shifts incentives.
The fall in coal use has been much smaller in eastern European countries, with lower uptake of green alternatives.
In some cases, such as Slovenia and Bulgaria, coal generation even rose.
Many countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, still rely heavily on lignite.
The trend for less coal puts the EU on course to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 per cent year-on-year.
However, coal’s phase-out is still fairly slow: just a smattering of plants have been closed so far in 2019, mostly in the UK and Germany.
At the same time coal will continue to account for 12 per cent of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions this year.
Globally coal makes up almost two-fifths of electricity generation, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
It is also crucial in the iron and steel industries, and while its use has been falling in some regions, such as the United States and Europe, demand continues to climb in China and India.
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