Coalmine gets the green light

Boro_Interlinked said:
UK has been burning coal at at least 1 coal power station for 2 -3 weeks now and we really needed it last week during that 4-5 day complete lull in the wind. Right now it's supplying 1.3GW or 3.7% of current Grid demand of 35.1GW (peak demand is 45GW in any 24hr period ) and will probably have to continue doing so for the coming predicted 10 day freeze we are about to enter , at eh bare minimum.
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I agree we are using it now but its a temporary standby style measure. I don't think we would now be using coal if it wasn't for the war in the Ukraine. Was Drax the last UK coal fired station and that was built over 40 years ago? and there will be no new ones in the UK. I heard Poland was continuing with new coal power generation, but surely the EU must put pressure on them to stop and stop giving them subsidies for coal.
 

I wrote a long piece about this about two weeks ago....Ratcliffe has stockpiled coal to its maximum and been on standby since the Summer.​

Ratcliffe power station unit to stay in operation during winter​

1670499269646.png
A German energy company has come to an agreement to extend the life of part of a power station in Nottinghamshire.
Uniper says it will carry on using the unit at the coal-fired facility at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, having been approached by the government in April following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The 500MW unit - one of four there - had been due to close in September.
In a statement the firm said it would "help maintain energy supply security in this unprecedented situation".
www.bbc.com

Ratcliffe power station unit to stay in operation during winter

Part of the coal-fired facility in Nottinghamshire had been earmarked for closure this month.
www.bbc.com


Heres an extract on the cost of coal fired power-stations [including Ratcliffe]
[https://www.gem.wiki/Ratcliffe_power_station]

Estimated cost of air pollution from plant​

A 2011* analysis by the European environment agency (EEA), 'Revealing the costs of air pollution from industrial facilities in Europe,' estimates that air pollution from industry costs Britain £3.4bn-£9.5bn a year in health and environmental damage. When CO2 costs are included, the figure rises to £9.5bn-£15.5bn. The industrial facilities covered by the analysis include large power plants, refineries, manufacturing combustion and industrial processes, waste and certain agricultural activities. Emissions from power plants contributed the largest share of the damage costs (estimated at €66–112 billion).

A small number of individual facilities cause the majority of damage costs. Three quarters of the total damage costs were caused by the emissions from just 622 industrial facilities – 6 % of the total number. Longannet Power Station, Cottam, Ratcliffe Power Station, and West Burton power stations together emit more than 30m tonnes of CO2 and other pollutants and cost the economy up to £2.3bn a year.[8]

* Figures have been updated.
 
Brian Marwood said:
I think it's a great move, especially for the jobs market. We should also re-introduce coal fires into houses and put thousands of people back into work as chimney sweeps.
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Think of all the jobs for out of work coalmen driving round the country delivering bags of coal to our homes. Think you're on to something
 
Pitty we cant build steam engines for the railways - so flasks of T can be filled by hot water from the boiler and breakfast can be cooked on the Firemans shovel(y)
 
B_G said:
I agree but wind farms don't produce a lot of jobs which the main driver for this mine
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There's plenty of jobs picking food for farmers, or if they want to be paid better then skilled jobs in industries such as IT which have massive skill shortages. If this were purely about jobs then there are better ways to create them.
 
Redwurzel said:
I agree we are using it now but its a temporary standby style measure. I don't think we would now be using coal if it wasn't for the war in the Ukraine. Was Drax the last UK coal fired station and that was built over 40 years ago? and there will be no new ones in the UK. I heard Poland was continuing with new coal power generation, but surely the EU must put pressure on them to stop and stop giving them subsidies for coal.
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I don't believe the war in Ukraine lie about our energy use
 
Mark Kirkbride, the chief executive of West Cumbria Mining, is described by EMR Capital as an executive who has worked with, or is well known to, the EMR team over many years.

Kirkbride is also a member of the committee on radioactive waste management, which the government says is an independent panel set up to give expert advice on the building of a nuclear dump for radioactive waste from past and future nuclear industry.


Oh dear we don't seem to be selling much coal nobody wants it.
What on earth are we going to do with this bloody big hole in the ground now?

£$£$£$£$£$ etc
 
WindyNook said:
Mark Kirkbride, the chief executive of West Cumbria Mining, is described by EMR Capital as an executive who has worked with, or is well known to, the EMR team over many years.

Kirkbride is also a member of the committee on radioactive waste management, which the government says is an independent panel set up to give expert advice on the building of a nuclear dump for radioactive waste from past and future nuclear industry.


Oh dear we don't seem to be selling much coal nobody wants it.
What on earth are we going to do with this bloody big hole in the ground now?

£$£$£$£$£$ etc
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:unsure:
 
HolgateCorner said:
Isn’t the coal going to be shipped from Teesport?
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Hopefully. Brings jobs and business into the area.
There must be a market for this coal mine to be opened. As others have mentioned what's the harm if it's just replacing the foreign workload with homegrown jobs. If the locals are in favour of then best of luck to them, I imagine the jobs on offer will be well paid, taxes paid into the system, local economies boosted etc.
 
B_G said:
I agree but wind farms don't produce a lot of jobs which the main driver for this mine
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Do you know how many people have been employed building and operating wind farms in the U.K. over the last 15 years?

It is a massive industry.
 
Boro_Interlinked said:
UK has been burning coal at at least 1 coal power station for 2 -3 weeks now and we really needed it last week during that 4-5 day complete lull in the wind. Right now it's supplying 1.3GW or 3.7% of current Grid demand of 35.1GW (peak demand is 45GW in any 24hr period ) and will probably have to continue doing so for the coming predicted 10 day freeze we are about to enter , at eh bare minimum.
Click to expand...
This coal is very high quality and earmarked as coking coal though isn’t it, hence the export of it?

The U.K. imports about 5 million tonnes of coal each year for various uses, including stand by generation.
 
This isnt for power stations, its for steel production.
Apparently, whatever happens, we would import this coal from Russia or Australia because it has to be coal, for some reason.

Or did I get that bit wrong?
Any road, I hate the tories but I think there is more to this than first glance.
 
B_G said:
I agree but wind farms don't produce a lot of jobs which the main driver for this mine
Click to expand...
That would depend on how many we build and maintain. The employment potential is limitless, unlike any coal seam.
 
MoggasDog said:
This isnt for power stations, its for steel production.
Apparently, whatever happens, we would import this coal from Russia or Australia because it has to be coal, for some reason.

Or did I get that bit wrong?
Any road, I hate the tories but I think there is more to this than first glance.
Click to expand...

Read the Guardian article linked. The UK steel industry doesn't really want or need it to the extent that 85% of this coal will be exported. And where will it go because Europe don't want it either?

It sounds like we are just mining it to ship it long distances. The zero carbon analysis of the mine doesn't include the burning of the coal either!

So if no one wants the coal how long are these 500+ jobs sustainable for? Or if no one buys it for steel production will we start to use it in power stations (if that is even possible)? Or will they mine it and it just sit around?

To me it just sounds like a way to appease Copeland residents so they vote Tory in 2 years. Red Wall innit. I think that in 5-10 years we'll see a line in a newspaper hidden away about how it has been closed due to no demand and it cost the taxpayer half a billion or something which was all wasted.
 
Randy said:
Hopefully. Brings jobs and business into the area.
There must be a market for this coal mine to be opened. As others have mentioned what's the harm if it's just replacing the foreign workload with homegrown jobs. If the locals are in favour of then best of luck to them, I imagine the jobs on offer will be well paid, taxes paid into the system, local economies boosted etc.
Click to expand...
A country that claims to be a world leader in climate change opens a coal mine, for the tiny amount of jobs it creates, it’s catastrophic for the climate. Realistically how does the uk attempt to get developing countries to reduce their dependence on coal whilst doing this?
 
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