Emissions in the EU from the use of fossil fuels in the power sector fell by 21% in the first ten months this year, compared to the same period in 2022. According to data gathered by climate tank Ember, between January and October, such  emissions from power generation totaled just 415 mtCO2e, dropping 110 mt CO2e below last year’s level.

In the same period, fossil fuels generated 655,98 TWh falling by 19,68% compared to 2022 amid a massive decline in coal use and higher renewables. Clean sources (solar, wind, hydro and nuclear) are now double compared to fossils with an output of 1388,19 TWh.

Coal fell by a massive 24,97%, generating around 12,5% of EU’s power last month. The decline is even more impressive looking back eight years ago. The share of coal has decreased by more than half from 27,83% recorded in October 2015.

Hydro showed some improvement compared to last year. In the first ten months of 2023, it generated 241,6 TWh compared to 216,61 TWh last year, posting a 11,53% increase. Still, the figure is below the recent average levels due to severe droughts in key hydro areas.

Meanwhile, nuclear generation stagnated this year, recording just 482,59 TWh. The figure is just 1% higher compared to last year’s poor results and 16,5% below power generation in the first ten months of 2021. The  results were largely due to planned shutdown of nuclear capacity in Germany and poor performance in France.