They’re trying
to capture
a headline.
They are going to
stop mining coal
in the UK, but it’s
a false headline,
because doing that
will increase global
CO2 emissions !
“As it stands,
that will be
the last coal coming
out of England on
a surface mine,”
says Gavin Styles, MD
of Banks Mining,
owner of the
Bradley site.
250 miners face
losing their jobs.
UK industry
still needs coal
to make steel
and cement.
So Russia will be
the main source
for that coal.
“Every tonne we
don’t produce in the UK
is going to be brought in
from Russia,” says
42-year-old Styles.
“That means that a British job
producing a tonne of coal
in a greener way is now going
to be done by a Russian.”
Last year, 86 percent of UK
coal was imported from abroad,
with Russia producing
one third of that, followed by
the USA and Australia.
With Bradley closing, the UK
will be wholly dependent
on imported foreign coal.
“The environmental standards
in Russia are significantly lower
than in the UK.
The level of greenhouse gas
emissions coming out of
a Russian mine is unknown
because they don’t track it.
Then look at the 6,000 mile
journey from the Kuzbass
region in Russia by diesel
train then by diesel boat.”
It’s been estimated that
transporting 6.8 million
tonnes of coal to the UK
creates 408,000 tonnes
of CO2—the same as
186 jumbo jets
permanently circling
the globe.
Environmental campaigners,
including Extinction Rebellion,
persuaded County Durham
councillors to turn
down an extension
of the mining permit ,
to keep operating the mine,
while the UK
was still using coal.
“We have a need in the UK
for five million tonnes
of coal a year,”
explains Styles.
“That is five times
more then we currently
produce.
So you’re looking at
two thousand jobs
plus the supply chain
which would be a further
four thousand.
The people that work
for us are highly skilled,
earning £8,500 a year
more for a mining
employee than the
average worker
in the North East.”
Profits from Banks Mining,
by the way, are reinvested
in their 222 megawatts
-producing wind turbines.
Importing coal
into the UK
makes no sense.