Coal in Wales

Opencast coal mine in Wales

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

Burning coal is also 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 more than its fair share.

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.

Despite all this, there are now calls to redevelop Wales' coal industry to fuel a new generation of coal-fired power stations.

‘Clean' coal?

Claims that coal can now be burnt cleanly and efficiently are highly misleading. This is, for now, a false promise, as gains in efficiency have been small.

Any future for coal as a fuel hinges on our ability to capture and store underground the carbon dioxide it emits. But this new ‘carbon capture and storage' (CCS) technology is not likely to be commercially available until at least 2025.

Until then, we cannot even be considering new coal-fired power stations. CCS certainly cannot be used as an excuse to build new coal burning power stations today.

Coal in Wales

Currently, around 70 per cent of the coal burnt in the UK is imported. Replacing some of these imports with Welsh coal might provide a short-term boost to the coal industry - and save the carbon cost of transporting millions of tonnes from Russia and South Africa.

But we cannot have any more cases like Ffos-y-Fran. This opencast site near Merthyr has been allowed to go ahead just 35 metres from people's homes, despite continued protests from residents and environment campaigners.

More Welsh coal could mean more Welsh landscapes hideously disfigured by opencast mines, and all the impact they can have on communities, people's health and the environment.