Current News

Coal in Wales

6 January 2009

Coal is the largest single cause of climate change. Half the carbon dioxide humans have ever emitted is from burning coal. 

Burning coal is the main reason why Britain has emitted more carbon dioxide (CO₂) per head of population than any other country. Wales, with its long history of heavy industry, has contributed considerably.

One of the world's leading climate scientists, Professor James Hansen of NASA, has called coal-fired power stations "factories of death".

'Clean' coal?

While coal can be burnt more cleanly in new power stations, the emissions of CO₂ would still be substantial.

Any future for coal hinges on a technology called carbon capture and storage (CCS). This would capture the CO₂ emissions from a power station and pump it several kilometres underground for storage.

CCS needs to be demonstrated on large power stations as soon as possible, to have any chance of becoming commercially available by 2020.

Until then, we cannot even consider new coal-fired power stations without CCS. The promise of fitting CCS in the future cannot be an excuse to build new coal burning power stations today.

Even with CCS, power stations should use combined heat and power (CHP) to avoid wasting the heat generated.

Coal in Wales

The Aberthaw coal-burning power station in Barry, south Wales, is the single largest emitter of CO₂ in the country. Its emissions in 2006 rose to over seven million tonnes, and could rise to eleven million tonnes as output is predicted to increase.

Now there are calls to redevelop Wales' coal mining industry to fuel new coal-fired power stations.

A new deep underground mine in Wales may cause few local environmental issues, but we cannot have any more cases like Ffos-y-Fran.

This opencast site near Merthyr is just 35 metres from people's homes, despite continued protests from residents and environment campaigners.

More Welsh coal must not mean more Welsh landscapes disfigured by opencast mines. Opencast mines affect communities, peoples' health and the environment.

Coal use must be dramatically reduced everywhere if we are to stand a chance of overcoming the immense threat of climate change.