EU energy boss hails coal’s demise on path to carbon neutrality. Kadri Simson, the EU’s top energy official, wants to oversee the end of an 150-year era in Europe with the phasing out of coal-powered electricity. A former Estonian minister for economic affairs, Ms Simson has been Brussels’ energy commissioner since 2019 and is in charge of setting the EU’s trailblazing path to becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. The target — which commits the EU to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by mid-century — will require a radical overhaul of Europe’s energy mix, vast investment in renewable technologies, and the rapid phasing out of a coal sector that has largely powered the continent’s industrial growth since the 19th century. The trading bloc also intends to more than half its emissions compared with 1990 by 2030.
FT 13th Oct 2020 read more »