Italy govt pledges to phase out coal for electricity by 2025

Italy will phase out the use of coal for national electricity needs by 2025, the country’s government has said. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni announced the plan on Friday at a signing ceremony of the National Energy Strategy in Rome, AP reported. The plan calls for investment of €175 billion ($204 billion) during the period to 2030 in the areas of infrastructure, renewable energy and energy-efficiency development. Carbon fuels provided 16 percent of Italy’s national electricity in 2015. The new energy strategy sets goals of decreasing carbon emissions from energy by 39 percent by 2030 and 63 percent by 2050.