MINING COMPANY WARNS: ‘NO BRITISH COAL AFTER 2022’
Railways will rely upon imports within a few years unless Government changes stance on mining.
Coal suitable for locomotive use will not be mined in Britain by 2022 or shortly after, one of the country’s biggest mining groups has warned.
The Banks Group, which operates Shotton surface mine
– the biggest surface mine in England – as well as two others in the North East, has said that its production of bituminous coal will end in an estimated two years’ time, as will that of other mining companies, unless the Government grants planning permission for new mines and extensions to existing sites. If such planning consents are not forthcoming, Banks warns that within a few years, Britain’s preserved railways will be entirely reliant upon imports – which are likely to be significantly more expensive than UK-mined coal and potentially of a lower quality
– a scenario which could pose a very serious threat to many railways’ businesses.
Howard Johnson, former MD of Johnson Wholesale Fuels Ltd and who has 40 years’ experience in the coal industry, concurs. “All large-scale UK mining will currently cease by 2022 at the very latest, possibly earlier if the Government and DEFRA do not change the domestic house coal ban that they are still proposing,” he said.
“It is critical that permitting and granting the planning extensions happens very soon, as an operation such as Banks’ new site at Highthorn will take several months to produce coal. We could very easily see production gaps (i.e. no coal) while waiting for those decisions. Banks is very rapidly running out of production and needs positive action to be taken now.”
He added: “If DEFRA announces the domestic ban, rumour has it that the expected timescale for cessation will be 12-18 months. Domestic supplies could vanish in a matter of weeks, or most certainly a few months, once the decision is announced as the remaining producers will have no alternative but to crush the lump coal and sell it to industry. Wholesalers and merchants will be very reluctant to either import or stock large quantities of lump product for fear of being left with unsold stocks.”
In the face of greater environmental scrutiny, Banks also argues that, given the continuing need for around 5 million tonnes of coal from Britain’s industrial sector alone for at least the next 20 years, it makes more environmental sense to source that coal within the UK.
In a statement, a Banks spokesman said: “Of course, the heritage rail sector and the UK coal mining sector take the issue of climate change extremely seriously. We must all play our part and take responsibility by making a sensible transition to a low carbon future.
“However, climate change won’t be addressed by the carbon hypocrisy of offshoring our greenhouse gas emissions while shedding well-paid jobs in the UK mining sector.
“The associated greenhouse gas emissions generated by the transportation of these imports, from Russia to UK customers, are between five and seven times higher than transporting coal mined in the UK. That is a scandal and is made more so when the Government is well aware of how Russia can abuse its power as an energy producer.”
For more about the threat to Britain’s coal industry’s future, see pages 76-82.