One hundred and forty-two years ago the world’s first coal-burning power station went on line at the Holborn Viaduct in London, England. Coal had already made Britain the first industrial nation, the most powerful on Earth.

Coal was king of the Industrial Revolution. It fuelled the ovens that made the iron that made the machinery for the “dark satanic mills” that revolutionized manufacturing. It powered James Watt’s steam engine, and the ships and railways that carried coal to factories and their products to the world. Other countries with coal—France, Germany, the United States—followed Britain’s lead.

And as coal brought power and prosperity, it brought environmental disaster. Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels, bringing pollution and global warming to offset its largesse. A richer Britain became also a dirtier Britain.

But now the country’s coal era is over. On Monday the last last coal-burning power station in Britain, in the village of Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, shut down. The operator says the site will be converted to a low-carbon energy hub.

This is not to say Britain has gone green. Like other countries that are abandoning coal, Britain is replacing it with renewables but also with nuclear power and natural gas, another fossil fuel albeit a much cleaner one. Although the country aims to replace all electricity from fossil fuels by 2030, it still depends on them for most of its power supply.

Most coal is now consumed by China and India who are using it at record levels. China however, as I pointed out in an earlier post, is the world leader in renewables and expects its coal consumption to peak next year as it ramps up wind and solar.

One of the encouraging aspects of the closing of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant is the operator’s consideration for its workers. The company has offered job training and an “enhanced” severance package as well as offering a number of the workers jobs in other of its projects. Some have already found jobs elsewhere. A consortium of unions has welcomed the closure. Fair treatment for workers is essential to gaining buy-in for the transition to renewables.

Britain departing the coal era is not only a major achievement in dealing with climate change, it is symbolically encouraging to see the place where it all started emerging into a greener world. Maybe we really can put coal behind us everywhere. Then it’s on to oil and gas.