What will be the climate impact of a new coal mine in the UK?

1 year ago 108

The tract of the projected excavation successful Whitehaven, UK

The UK is acceptable to conception its archetypal ember excavation successful 3 decades aft the authorities approved plans for a projected task successful Cumbria, contempt wide absorption connected biology grounds.

The Woodhouse Colliery successful Whitehaven volition nutrient astir 2.8 cardinal tonnes of coking ember a year, to beryllium utilized by the alloy manufacture successful the UK and beyond, according to the developer West Cumbria Mining.

But it has faced fierce absorption from scientists and biology campaigners, who reason the UK should beryllium investing successful greenish alloy technologies alternatively than supporting a caller fossil substance scheme.

Why has the authorities approved the mine?

The authorities has been nether unit from section blimpish MPs to o.k. the excavation for years, with supporters arguing it volition bring astir 500 much-needed jobs to the section area. But it shied distant from making the determination portion the UK was starring planetary clime talks, a relation that officially ended past month.

After months of delay, Michael Gove, the caput of authorities for levelling up, lodging and communities, finally granted support for the excavation connected 7 December, explaining helium was satisfied the task would “have an wide neutral effect connected clime change” . That is contempt investigation suggesting the strategy would nutrient an estimated 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse state emissions a year.

Can it truly beryllium nett zero emissions?

The excavation developers, West Cumbria Mining, person said “the excavation seeks to beryllium nett zero successful its operations”, which it volition execute by minimising emissions and purchasing offsets. But it has lone accounted for a tiny fraction of the full emissions that volition beryllium generated erstwhile the ember is lifted from the ground, the Climate Change Committee’s seat Lord Deben told the BBC. “They don’t number the burning of the coal,” helium said. “We person nary mode of ensuring that is nett zero.”

Does the UK request much coking coal?

The UK produces astir 7.4 cardinal tonnes of alloy each twelvemonth utilizing coking coal, chiefly from 2 companies: British Steel and Tata. British Steel has said it volition not usage ember from the Cumbria task due to the fact that its sulphur contented volition beryllium excessively high, portion Tata has said it whitethorn usage immoderate ember from the excavation but yet plans to displacement to greener accumulation methods implicit the adjacent decade.

In fact, it is estimated that lone betwixt 10 and 20 per cent of the ember extracted from Woodhouse Colliery volition beryllium utilized for steelmaking successful the UK.

The remainder volition beryllium exported overseas – and astir apt not to countries successful Europe, wherever steelmakers are facing akin pressures to chopped the c footprint of their operations. On the continent, steelmakers are progressively investing successful non-fossil ways of making steel, specified arsenic by utilizing hydrogen oregon electrical furnaces. In Sweden, for example, Hybrit is manufacturing alloy made from “green” hydrogen, which is generated utilizing renewable electricity.

Will it person a worldly interaction connected emissions?

The authorities argues the projected improvement “will person a broadly neutral effect connected the planetary merchandise of greenhouse state emissions from ember utilized successful alloy making”. In fact, the Committee connected Climate Change said the excavation would summation UK c dioxide emissions by 400,000 tonnes a year, and erstwhile the emissions from burning the ember extracted are taken into account, 220 cardinal tonnes of CO2 equivalent implicit the people of its 25-year lifetime.

It is existent that this is simply a driblet successful the water compared to the alloy industry’s wide emissions, which relationship for astir 8 per cent of planetary emissions.

But adjacent if the emissions from the excavation itself are marginal, galore clime experts are disquieted that by approving the mine, the UK authorities has undermined its planetary credibility arsenic a clime leader.

As big of COP26 successful Glasgow past year, the UK called for countries to “consign ember to history” and lobbied nations to perpetrate to phase-out plans for the fossil fuel. Approving a caller ember excavation connected location ungraded volition beryllium seen arsenic hypocrisy, accidental researchers, and whitethorn embolden different nations to widen the beingness of their ain ember industries.

“Developing countries specified arsenic India volition presumption this determination arsenic highly hypocritical, and this determination volition bash a disservice to the UK’s past of pushing retired ember from its powerfulness system,” said Sugandha Srivastav astatine the University of Oxford successful a statement.

Paul Elkins astatine University College London said the support “trashes the UK’s estimation arsenic a planetary person connected clime enactment and opens it up to good justified charges of hypocrisy – telling different countries to ditch ember portion not doing truthful itself.”

Can the excavation beryllium stopped?

Despite winning readying support from the government, immoderate clime experts uncertainty the excavation volition ever go operational.

There volition astir surely beryllium a ineligible situation launched against this week’s decision, with NGOs and instrumentality firms similar Client Earth actively scrutinising the determination for imaginable grounds for appeal, New Scientist understands.

A wide predetermination could besides scupper the mine’s prospects. The Liberal Democrats and Labour are some opposed to its development, with Labour’s shadiness clime and nett zero caput Ed Miliband saying the determination shows the authorities is “giving up connected each pretence of clime leadership”. A Labour triumph successful the adjacent wide predetermination could halt the excavation earlier operations ever get underway.

Sign up to our escaped Fix the Planet newsletter to get a dose of clime optimism delivered consecutive to your inbox, each Thursday