Is coal a renewable source of energy

06/09/2022 15:01

Table of Contents Show

Less electricity produced from natural gas
Electricity production in neighbouring countries
More export, less import of electricity
Why is coal not a renewable resource?
Is coal a good example of renewable energy?
Is coal a good energy source?
What is the best renewable energy source?

In Q2 2022, electricity production from coal increased by 40 percent year on year. The production of electricity from renewable sources rose by 25 percent. At the same time, 19 percent less electricity was generated from natural gas. Net electricity production stood at 28.2 billion kWh, i.e. 4.3 percent more than in the same quarter last year. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released figures.

Electricity production per source

Jaar	Kwartaal	Renewable (bn kWh)	Natural gas (bn kWh)	Coal (bn kWh)	Other (bn kWh)
2017	Q1	4.35	15.15	9.74	2.10
2017	Q2	3.80	12.23	7.69	1.35
2017	Q3	3.54	12.96	6.93	1.91
2017	Q4	5.08	16.31	8.27	2.01
2018	Q1	4.73	14.87	9.02	2.06
2018	Q2	4.28	11.01	6.35	1.57
2018	Q3	4.32	14.46	6.46	1.44
2018	Q4	4.93	16.08	7.38	1.90
2019	Q1	5.43	18.15	7.05	1.87
2019	Q2	5.40	15.30	4.01	1.46
2019	Q3	5.37	17.57	2.32	1.84
2019	Q4	5.84	18.36	5.89	1.99
2020	Q1	7.66	18.73	2.70	1.97
2020	Q2	7.92	15.63	1.36	1.62
2020	Q3	7.97	19.38	2.29	1.82
2020	Q4	8.51	17.52	3.24	1.84
2021	Q1	9.45	18.01	3.83	1.83
2021	Q2	9.97	13.54	2.16	1.36
2021	Q3	10.11	10.34	4.47	1.90
2021	Q4	9.59	13.41	6.05	1.86
2022	Q1	11.36	13.15	4.15	1.86
2022	Q2	12.36	11.00	3.00	1.57

Electricity production from coal amounted to 3.0 billion kWh in Q2 2022, i.e. 0.9 billion kWh more than in the same period last year. Renewable electricity production rose by 25 percent, to 12.5 billion kWh. Compared to the same quarter five years previously, total production has more than tripled. Solar and wind power in particular showed strong increases (40 and 25 percent, respectively) in the second quarter.

Both the sunny weather and the increased installed solar panel capacity resulted in more electricity production from solar power. Wind power mainly showed increased onshore production. This was due to both greater installed capacity of onshore turbines and the favourable weather conditions for wind energy over the past quarter.

Less electricity produced from natural gas

In Q2 2022, electricity generated by natural gas declined by 19 percent year on year to 11 billion kWh. This was the case at both gas-fired power stations and the gas engines in greenhouse horticulture, for instance. Nuclear energy accounted for 3 percent of total production.

Electricity production in neighbouring countries

Whereas the Netherlands produced more electricity in the second quarter of 2022, production in France fell by 15 percent to 103 kWh, partly due to the extended maintenance work on nuclear power plants. In 2021, France still accounted for 19 percent of total electricity production in the European Union. In addition to the higher prices of both natural gas and CO2, scarcity due to lower nuclear electricity production in France causes the electricity price to rise.

Just as in the Netherlands, electricity production from natural gas fell in Belgium and Germany, mainly due to high gas prices. On the other hand, whereas production from coal increased in the Netherlands, it decreased by 24 percent in France.

Electricity production from solar power grew more rapidly in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries. Belgium and Germany showed respective increases of 29 and 13 percent relative to Q2 2021. Wind power production in the Netherlands was up, but declined in France.

Electricity production, Q2 2022

Categorie	Netherlands (year-on-year % change)	Germany (year-on-year % change)	Belgium (year-on-year % change)	France (year-on-year % change)
Total	4	1	-7	-15
Coal	40	25	-5	-24
Natural gas	-19	-11	-22	48
Nuclear	48	-53	-12	-24
Solar	40	13	29	29
Wind	25	3	6	-11
Hydropower	-44	-2	194	-15
Source: CBS, Eurostat

More export, less import of electricity

Total electricity exports increased by 17 percent year on year in Q2 2022, to 5.1 billion kWh. In contrast to Q2 2021, the Netherlands was a net exporter again.

Electricity imports dropped by 16 percent to 4.4 billion kWh. Less electricity was obtained from Belgium and Norway in particular.

Electricity imports and exports

Jaar	Kwartaal	Balance (bn kWh)	Imports (bn kWh)	Exports (bn kWh)
2017	Q1	-0.78	5.02	-5.80
2017	Q2	2.16	6.23	-4.07
2017	Q3	2.55	5.92	-3.37
2017	Q4	-0.42	5.29	-5.71
2018	Q1	0.68	5.81	-5.12
2018	Q2	4.72	7.89	-3.17
2018	Q3	1.91	6.80	-4.89
2018	Q4	0.66	6.26	-5.60
2019	Q1	-1.29	4.64	-5.93
2019	Q2	1.79	5.84	-4.05
2019	Q3	1.03	5.24	-4.21
2019	Q4	-0.67	4.69	-5.35
2020	Q1	0.17	5.44	-5.27
2020	Q2	0.14	5.28	-5.14
2020	Q3	-2.96	3.69	-6.65
2020	Q4	-0.02	5.36	-5.38
2021	Q1	-1.65	4.19	-5.84
2021	Q2	0.85	5.24	-4.38
2021	Q3	1.58	6.11	-4.53
2021	Q4	-0.52	5.35	-5.87
2022	Q1	-1.08	5.34	-6.42
2022	Q2	-0.736	4.39	-5.126

Sources

StatLine - Electricity balance sheet; supply and consumption
StatLine - Average energy prices for consumers
Eurostat - Developments on the electricity market
Website - Tennet

Why is coal not a renewable resource?

Coal takes millions of years to form Coal is classified as a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form. Coal contains the energy stored by plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in swampy forests.

Is coal a good example of renewable energy?

Fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas and oil, are examples of non-renewable energy sources. These sources can occur naturally, but they are finite in their amount.

Is coal a good energy source?

Coal is a stable, secure energy source Coal also has the unique advantage of being able to be stored on-site, providing weeks or even months of fuel supply at the power plant. This important characteristic contributes to grid reliability, resiliency and reduces fuel supply bottlenecks.