Securing UK coal future

Unite has joined a campaign to save what is left of the once-mighty coal industry, before deep mining disappears from the UK for ever.

With plans to close two of the country’s remaining three underground pits, time is running out for a sector which used to be a mainstay of British industry, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The National Union of Mineworkers believes coal has been left to fend for itself as arguments rage over the merits of investing in nuclear power or renewables.

But Unite is now harnessing its own energy to argue alongside the NUM for the immediate introduction of carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS), to capture, transport and store carbon dioxide emissions from large point sources, such as power stations.

Unions believe this would help secure the future of coal-fired power stations, boosting the chances of supplies being bought from British mines rather than being imported.

Drax, the operator of Britain’s biggest power station near Selby in Yorkshire, recently secured up to ÂŁ240m of EU funding to build a power plant whose carbon dioxide emissions will be trapped and buried deep beneath the North Sea.

But Unite’s national officer for energy, Kevin Coyne, said it was “far too little, too late.”

He added, “Coal produces 30 per cent of the nation’s energy requirements, and without CCS, most power stations are due to close by 2026.

“We need a balanced energy solution which sees carbon capture and storage at UK coal fired power stations playing an integral role along with the jobs that will come from the reopening of Britain’s vast energy reserves.”

Unite and the NUM have launched a website to back up the campaign – Cleaner Coal and Coal Combine – to bring together unions with members in deep mines, and to promote the development of CCS, which unions argue could significantly reduce carbon emissions from coal fired power stations by around 90 per cent.

Thirty years after the start of the bitter, year-long miners’ strike, a fresh fight is underway to rescue the industry, promote British pits, and stop coal being seen as a dirty word.

Power house — Drax power station (by Jonathan Brennan)