No coal

Coal once powered much of the world’s economy — and now countries, cities, and utilities are moving away from it faster than many expected. This archive tracks plant closures, policy shifts, and clean-energy transitions that are shrinking coal’s role in the global energy mix.

Coal mine, for article on China coal share

China’s coal power falls below 50% of electricity for first time ever

By / / Good News For Humankind

The remarkable part isn’t the coal number — it’s that China burned more coal than ever in the first half of 2026, yet clean power grew so fast that coal’s grid share still slipped to 49.7%. Wind and solar alone now supply nearly a quarter of electricity in the world’s largest power market, with renewables together topping 40%. Beijing is racing to keep up, lifting energy-storage investment 74% in a single year. The harder task still ahead: cutting the absolute amount of coal burned, not just its share.

Lakes, for article on coal mine restoration

Germany finishes 60-year project turning coal mines into a 23-lake district

By / / Good News For Humankind

Germany’s Lusatian Lakeland is now complete — a chain of 23 human-made lakes covering 14,000 hectares where open-cast coal mines once scarred the land between Berlin and Dresden. The final piece, Lake Sedlitz, opened to swimmers and boaters this April, and in June, five of the lakes will be linked by navigable canals into a continuous 5,000-hectare waterway. Engineers spent decades channeling river water into the old craters, securing embankments, and flushing out acid — work that would have taken nature a century. The region now welcomes around 800,000 overnight stays a year, with former miners finding work in hospitality and water sports. It’s a hopeful blueprint for coal regions everywhere navigating what comes next.

Cooling towers of a coal power plant at sunset for an article about coal phase-out

Humanity shuts down its last coal-fired power plant

By / / Archive of Human Genius

Coal-fired power could vanish worldwide by 2040, when the last plant — a 74-year-old facility in China’s Shanxi Province — is projected to go dark. Global coal capacity already peaked around 2022, as solar and wind became the cheapest new electricity in history. If the trend holds, cleaner air and roughly 800,000 fewer pollution deaths each year would follow.

Smoke stacks at a retired coal power plant for an article about coal-free New England

New England becomes coal-free as its last power plant closes permanently

By / / Good News For Humankind

Coal-free New England marks a milestone in U.S. energy history with the permanent closure of Merrimack Station in Bow, New Hampshire. The 480-megawatt plant, the region’s last coal-fired facility, ended commercial operations on September 12th following a settlement between owner Granite Shore Power and environmental groups. The shutdown makes New England the largest coal-free electricity market in the United States, nearly 18 months ahead of its original 2028 retirement date. The closure reflects decades of sustained advocacy, shifting economics, and expanding renewable capacity across the six-state grid.

Wind turbines and solar panels generating electricity for an article about U.S. renewable energy share

Renewables top 30% of U.S. electrical generation for the first time

By / / Good News For Humankind

Renewable energy surpassed 30% of U.S. electricity generation in 2024, the highest share ever recorded in American history. Driven by rapid growth in solar and wind power alongside sustained hydropower output, this milestone reflects a genuine structural shift away from fossil fuels, with coal hitting historic lows. Federal investment through the Inflation Reduction Act has accelerated deployment well ahead of earlier projections. While significant challenges remain in battery storage and grid infrastructure, the achievement confirms that the U.S. energy transition is advancing at a pace that once seemed unlikely.

Alpine plants growing on a high-altitude mountain slope for an article about mercury emissions

Global mercury emissions have fallen 70% since the 1980s

By / / Good News For Humankind

Mercury pollution has dropped 70% since 1982, marking one of the most significant environmental reversals in recorded history. Researchers confirmed the decline by analyzing mercury levels trapped in alpine plant leaves collected from the Tibetan Plateau near Mount Everest, revealing a clear link to global policy action and the worldwide shift away from coal. The UN’s Minamata Convention, adopted in 2013, and stricter emissions standards — including US regulations that cut American power plant emissions by roughly 90% — drove much of the progress. The achievement demonstrates that sustained international cooperation can reverse even deeply entrenched industrial pollution.

Aerial view of a coastal power station at dusk for an article about Ireland coal-free Moneypoint closure

Ireland closes its last coal-fired power plant at Moneypoint

By / / Good News For Humankind

Ireland’s coal-free milestone arrived in 2025 when Moneypoint power station, the country’s only coal-fired plant, shut down permanently after nearly six decades of operation. The closure makes Ireland one of Europe’s first fully coal-free nations and eliminates the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity grid. Wind power, now generating 35-40% of Irish electricity, effectively replaced what coal once provided. Communities near Moneypoint in County Clare stand to see direct air quality improvements, while Ireland’s shift from imported coal to domestic wind also strengthens energy security against volatile global commodity markets.

Aerial view of a geothermal power facility surrounded by tropical landscape for an article about Indonesia coal phase-out, for article on India coal capacity share

Coal’s share of power capacity in India drops below 50% for first time since 1960s

By / / Good News For Humankind

Coal now powers less than half of India’s electricity capacity for the first time since the 1960s — a quiet but historic line just crossed by the world’s most populous country. Renewables made up nearly three-quarters of the new capacity India added in the first quarter of 2024, and the country has already hit its 2030 goal of sourcing half its power from non-fossil sources, six years ahead of schedule. India has also climbed from ninth to third in global solar generation in less than a decade, behind only China and the United States. It’s a vivid reminder that when ambition, policy, and investment line up, energy transitions can move faster than almost anyone expected.

Facility production thick air pollution, for article on Slovakia coal phaseout

Slovakia plans to be coal-free by 2024, six years earlier than originally planned

By / / Good News For Humankind

Slovakia just closed its last coal-fired power station, six years ahead of its original 2030 target. The Vojany plant in the country’s east — once the largest power station in former Czechoslovakia — shut down its final units this year, and the operator says Slovakia’s electricity supply will be free of direct CO2 emissions starting in June. Even better, the site won’t just sit empty: the company is exploring turning it into a solar park or battery storage facility, cleaning up the landfill and sludge pond in the process. Slovakia’s early exit shows that leaving coal behind isn’t just for Western Europe’s wealthiest nations — the economics have shifted faster than almost anyone predicted, opening real possibilities for the global energy transition.