England cannot save the world’s climate by itself
REFERENCE your editorial in issue 292. There are various issues that the Heritage Railway Association and the Heritage Fuels Alliance face in their efforts to secure a supply of suitable and affordable coal.
Firstly, the UK seems to be trying to lead the rest of the world on the quest for net zero carbon, despite the fact that alone nothing the UK can do would halt any further decline in the earth’s climate – and the UK is no longer a major player on the world’s stage.
In a modern society obsessed with consumerism, net zero carbon is simply not achievable. Every single product we buy results in carbon emissions from its manufacturing, storage, and transportation.
We have to burn coal in the UK for certain manufacturing processes, yet we have convinced ourselves that closing UK coal mines and importing coal from overseas makes us greener.
For an example of this, consider DRAX power station, where coal has been replaced with wood pellets. The pellets are manufactured from timber felled on the west side of the USA, the timber is processed into pellets and transported by road, rail and sea to the UK – all the while consuming diesel and heavy fuel oil. The pellets are shipped from UK ports to DRAX by rail consuming yet more diesel.
Incidentally the pellets are stored in large silos under a blanket of nitrogen gas to prevent decomposition and combustion. Liquid nitrogen gas is transported by road to the storage silos at both DRAX and the UK ports.
Because of the method by which emissions are calculated, all the carbon generated outside of the UK is not counted in the overall figures for DRAX – this is greenwashing in its finest form.
Fighting common sense
The media doesn’t help with its inconsistent and fickle approach to most subjects: at the first sign of common sense prevailing to allow a new colliery to open in Cumbria, the media will round on the Government.
On the one hand we complain at the rising cost of food, most of which could be grown in the UK, yet TV programmes such as Countryfile push items covering the rewilding of agricultural land.
The UK coal industry is yet another victim of the UK’s dislike of supporting and promoting its own manufacturing base.
We are surely the least patriotic nation in the developed world with regards to its manufacturing, infrastructure and industry. We will sell off anything to anyone – steel production, power generation, rail, roads... we even sold our National Lottery to the Canadian Teachers Pension Fund. Without the public on board (no pun intended), the HRA and HFA will be unable to push for and secure a UK mined supply of coal. However, the public are being misled from all directions. Climate change has become a political football.
The heritage sector would benefit from a documentary by Channel 4’s Dispatches team, highlighting the huge benefit the sector brings to the UK economy and the difficulties it is facing as a result of the banning of bituminous coal, and how misleading some of the figures being banded around actually are.
I own a 4in scale Burrell road locomotive, so I too need good quality coal albeit not a vast amount. I currently have approximately 18 bags of Welsh and Colombian coal, which should last a couple of years.
I might burn a bunker full at each steaming, the equivalent of about a bucketful.
Chris Smith, email