Armstrong understood that renewables would be cheaper energy sources in the long run compared to burning dirty coal, but his was essentially a lone voice. The presumed abundance of coal led to the commissioning of the world’s first coal power plant in 1882. The U.K.’s coal plants have since burned through 4.6 billion tonnes of coal, emitting 10.4Gt of CO2, stresses Dr Sim Evans, deputy editor of Carbon Brief.
