Czech energy group bucks green trend with bet on coal

Bucking a trend set by its European peers to divest from coal, the Czech energy group EPH is buying coal-fired power plants across the continent to the dismay of environmentalists lobbying for a phase-out of fossil fuels.Its annual production of more than 100 million megawatt-hours in its plants in Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia -- enough to power around 30 million homes -- makes EPH the seventh largest power producer in Europe.Set up in 2009, EPH (Energeticky