The first industrial revolution in the United Kingdom began in the mid-18th century. It was a process that profoundly transformed the economy and society, marking the beginning of mechanized production and the development of new technologies. This revolution was not a sudden event, but a series of gradual changes which, over decades, enabled the United Kingdom to become the most advanced industrial power in the world.
Coal as a source of development
One of the main factors behind the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom was a series of technological innovations in coal-powered manufacturing and production. Before the revolution, most products were made by hand in small workshops or at home through the domestic or production system, where artisans worked at home with hand tools. However, this method had limitations in terms of quantity and speed of production.
From the second half of the 18th century, in the textile sector, machines like the jenny spinning (1770) and the hydraulic loom (1784), which automated the textile manufacturing process, thereby increasing production and reducing costs. Another key factor was improved methods of producing iron and steel, essential for building industrial machinery. The development of coke ovens, which used coal to smelt ironmade it possible to produce high-quality metal in large quantities. Later, large-scale use of oil would come, which would gradually improve and replace coal. Today, coal is marginalized, used on a large scale in developing countries, in favor of renewable energies, but also nuclear power. The United Kingdom is once again a country setting the tone.
The end of coal
The UK has become the first G7 economy to completely eliminate coal from its electricity generation. Many of the 170 employees will remain hired to carry out the infrastructure dismantling process over the next two years, according to officials.
According to a survey by Climate Outreach and More in Common published this Monday, two thirds of Britons (65%) support the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energies, while only 8% are opposed. The political director of Greenpeace UK, Doug Parr, believes that the elimination of coal has been possible “thanks to the rapid progress of renewable energies”, according to the Efe agency.
“The UK is setting the example that the rest of the world must follow if we are to end the devastation caused by the climate crisis and air pollution,” he said. Parr stressed that the transition must be made in collaboration with unions to ensure other opportunities for workers.
Eight huge cooling towers (each measuring 114 meters with walls measuring 18 centimetres) have been erected at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, with a generating capacity of two gigawatts, enough to supply electricity to two million homes. The last delivery of coal arrived last June by train, which normally carried up to 15,000 tonnes of fuel.
Renewable energies
Think tank Ember, which aims to accelerate the transition to clean sources, has published analysis showing that the UK has seen a rapid shift away from coal, from 39% of its electricity generation in 2012 to 0%. from October.
The organization noted that, since 2012, The shares of wind and solar power in electricity production “increased from 6 to 34%”while gas only increased slightly, from 28 to 34%.”
According to Ember, wind and solar together replaced 28 million tonnes of coal and avoided £2.9 billion (€3.44 billion) in fuel costs (in 2023 prices).
Since 2012, emissions from the electricity sector have been reduced by 74%, from 160 MtCO2e to 41 MtCO2e, as the Government, which aspires to carbon neutrality by 2030, has closed or reused 15 coal-fired power stations with other combustibles, until the sector is closed. last this month.
