Electricity production from coal collapses from 23 to 9% in the United Kingdom. Worldwide emission are still constant, while the share of nuclear is failing in the EU.

IEA (International Energy Agency) data has been published on world-wide electricity production in 2016. With a 0.9% increase in global production compared to 2015, there has been an increase of 9.5% in renewables from solar, wind and geothermal and of 2.2% of hydroelectric. It has been recorded, on the contrary, a reduction in production from fossil fuels and nuclear power, of 0.2 and 0.1% respectively. Worldwide, the share of renewables goes from 21.6 to 22.4%, with higher growth rates in the US (pre-Trump administration, editor's note), where the hydroelectric has increased by 3.2% and by 12.6% for the other renewables. It has to be highlighted, in addition, a relevant increase of production from renewable sources also in Asia, of 1.4% for hydroelectric and of 12.6% for the other renewables. In Europe, where the total share of renewables is already 30%, there was an increase only in the hydroelectric sector, of 1%, mainly due to increased rainfall in some countries. Europe is the only region with a 2.4% reduction in nuclear power, due to the gradual phasing out of the plants in Germany and to temporary stop in production in France, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland. Interesting to observe the reduction in coal use in UK, collapsed from 23 to 9%, mainly related to carbon pricing policy, and, to a lesser extent, in the US, where it went from 34 to 31%. Meanwhile, for the third consecutive year, global GHG emissions remain constant at 32.1 billion tons, while world economy has grown by 3.1%. So, have we reached the peak of emissions? It is soon to say it with certainty, even if there are some positive signals in that direction.