U.K. Government Approves First Coal Mine In 30 Years In Cumbria
https://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherfarmbrough/2022/12/09/uk-government-approves-first-coal-mine-in-30-years-in-cumbria/
Dec 9, 2022
In an environmental volte-face, the U.K. government has announced it will open the first new coal mine in the country in 30 years in Cumbria.
On Wednesday, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, approved plans to open the Whitehaven coal mine in Cumbria.
The Woodhouse Colliery, owned by West Cumbria Mining, will extract coking coal for steelmaking, which ministers say would otherwise be imported.
The coal would be from seams under the Irish Sea, historically used to make steel in the U.K. A spokesperson for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said Woodhouse would not be used to generate power.
Most of the coal produced is expected to be exported to Europe. Planning documents show that more than 80% of the coal the mine will produce annually is forecast to, after five years, go to an export terminal on the east coast.
Greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal — such as steel and power plants — are the single most significant contributor to climate change.
Critics also argue that demand for coal in steelmaking is declining as the industry moves towards hydrogen.
The U.K. Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent group that advises the government, has estimated that the mine and the coal it will produce will emit around 9 million tons of planet-warming emissions yearly.
Gove has accepted that the development will release a 'small' amount of greenhouse gases. However, the government thinks it is enough to offset this 'through purchasing recognized Gold Standard or equivalent offsets.'
Strictly Opposed
The decision to approve the mine has drawn a stream of protests from scientists, environmentalists and even several leading Conservatives. For instance, Alok Sharma, the former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and President of COP 26, the Glasgow summit on climate change last year, has been critically vocal about the proposal.
While the pro-mine lobby argues that the impact on local employment will be positive, the mine will employ just over 500 workers when it reaches peak production after five years, with more than 80% expected to work underground in coal production. Sharma argued that investing in green energy technology would create more local jobs.
Paul Elkins, Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, said the mine did not make sense environmentally or economically.
"Approving it also trashes the U.K.'s reputation as a global leader on climate action and opens it up to well-justified charges of hypocrisy – telling other countries to ditch coal while not doing so itself," he said.
The chair of Britain's independent Climate Change Committee, John Gummer, a former Conservative Party chairman, criticized the approval of the Woodhouse project. "Phasing out coal use is the clearest requirement of the global effort towards Net Zero ... This decision grows global emissions," he said in a statement.
A lighter shade of green?
Not far from Whitehaven, the Lake District bids to become an UNESCO World Heritage Site
Not far from Whitehaven, the Lake District bids to become an UNESCO World Heritage SiteGetty Images
Little more than a year since hosting the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the U.K. government’s commitment to climate efforts has come under scrutiny amid concerns from campaigners that Sunak is less committed to the COP agenda than his predecessors.
POLITICO has reported that the U.K. had missed the deadline for paying more than $300mn to two critical U.N. climate funds for developing countries.
At COP 26, the U.K. government argued that heavily polluting fossil fuel production must end. Britain has passed laws requiring it to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
West Cumbria Mining is an Australian-owned company. A statement on the company’s website says the site is under maintenance.
Not All Cream Teas
Whitehaven, where the mine will be, has a long history of coal mining, referred to as early as the 13th century, with 70 pits sunk in the area. Once one of the busiest ports for ships sailing to the American colonies, Whitehaven became a centre for chemicals and steel. The primary industry nearby is the Sellafield Nuclear Plant, the largest local employer.
