Coal production and consumption in the EU have reached historic lows, with production in 2024 at 242 million tonnes, a 12% decrease from 2023. Consumption also fell to over 306 million tonnes, reflecting a decline in coal's role in electricity generation. While most EU countries have phased out coal, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia still extract brown coal, which is more polluting. Germany plans to eliminate black coal by 2036 and brown coal by 2038, while Poland will continue using coal until 2049. The war in Ukraine has drastically reduced Russian coal imports to the EU. Teljes cikk (Euronews.com)