Proposed coal mines in the United Kingdom
| This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor. |
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The United Kingdom has 4 applications for new or extended coal mines in 2022. The projects have proven highly controversial and provoked legal and political opposition.[1]
Project List:
- Aberpergwm coal mine (Wales)
- Lochinvar coal mine (Scotland)
- Woodhouse colliery (England)
- Glan Lash coal mine (Wales)
Aberpergwm coal mine
Background
The Aberpergwm coal mine in Wales drew public attention at the end of November 2021, when Coal Action Network noticed the license application submitted on September 16, 2020, on the webpage of the Coal Authority. The campaign group approached ministers in the UK and Welsh governments who insisted they could not stop the mine expansion. They filed a legal challenge that will be heard by a senior High Court judge in late 2022.[2]
Project Details
- Operator: Energybuild Limited
- Owner: Energybuild Limited
- Location: Neath Port Talbot, Wales County, United Kingdom
- Coordinates: 51.7408, -3.6443 (exact)
- Mine status: Proposed[3]
- Production: 2 million tonnes per annum[3] or 0.35 mtpa[4]
- Total reserves:
- Coal type: Anthracite
- Mine type: Underground
- Mine size: 2.3 km2[5]
- Workforce size: 160[4]
- Source of financing:
- Lifetime methane emissions: 1.17 million tonnes
Lochinvar coal mine
Background
The Lochinvar coal mine has been under development since 2012 when New Age Exploration Limited (NAE Ltd) acquired the licence. In 2014, the company conducted a scoping study which was subsequently updated in 2017. NAE Ltd had its conditional underground licence renewed by the Coal Authority on 21 January 2022.[6]
Project Details
- Owner: New Age Exploration
- Parent company: New Age Exploration
- Location: Longtown, Scotland
- GPS coordinates:55.0535, -2.9826
- Mine status: Proposed
- Production: 1.4 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) marketable; 1.9 Mtpa ROM.
- Start year: TBD
- Reserves:
- Coal type: Bituminous, Met[7]
- Mine size: 66.5 km2
- Mine type: Underground, Longwall
- Lifetime methane emissions: 750,000 tonnes
Woodhouse Colliery
Background
The Woodhouse Colliery in northern England has been under development since 2014.[8] The onshore part of the proposal planning permission was unanimously granted (subject to 99 planning conditions) on 19th March 2019 by the Development Control Committee of Cumbria County Council. This decision was subsequently ratified again (a second unanimous vote) on 31st October 2019.[8] The area's residents and campaign groups have challenged the decision via a Judicial Review.[9]
Project Details
- Sponsor: West Cumbria Mining[8]
- Parent Company: West Cumbria Mining[8]
- Location: Whitehaven, West Cumbria, England.[8]
- GPS Coordinates: 54.521755, -3.601407 (exact)
- Status: Development[8]
- Production Capacity: 3.1 million tonnes per annum[10]
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves:
- Coal type: Coking coal[8]
- Mine Size: 302 hectares[10]
- Mine Type: Underground[10]
- Start Year: 2023[11]
- Source of Financing: £14.7m in private equity financing (EMR Capital Resources Fund 1
a mining-focused private equity fund based in Australia)[12] - Lifetime methane emissions: 340,000 tonnes
Coal mine methane emissions
The UK is a signatory of the 2021 Global Methane Pledge, a commitment to cut methane emissions at a level consistent with a 1.5°C. Without measures in place for mitigation or utilization, the proposed coal mines could create new sources of coal mine methane.This has stoked political controversy in the UK, especially related to the Aberpergwm colliery.[13][14]
In March 2022, Global Energy Monitor's report "Bigger than Oil or Gas? Sizing Up Coal Mine Methane" estimated the potential emissions from proposed mines around the world, which could boost global coal mine methane emissions 11.2 million tonnes. The report drew attention to the ongoing concern with opening new coal mines without mitigation or utilization procedures in place.
In April 2022, Coal Action Network in the UK used Global Energy Monitor's figures to create a series of methane emissions estimates for all the proposed projects in the UK.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Coal Action Network
- ↑ Stop Aberpergwm, Coal Action Network, accessed July 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Aberpergwm colliery given go-ahead to mine 40 million tonnes despite Welsh Government disapproval, Wales Online, January 27, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tommy Greene, Wales coalmine extension may soon be approved despite Cop26 pledges, Guardian, December 24, 2021
- ↑ Aberpergwm Key Facts, Coal Action Network, accessed July 2022
- ↑ Lochinvar Coal Mine, Coal Action, accessed July 2022
- ↑ Tests confirm quality metallurgical coal at UK Lochinvar project, World Coal, July 3, 2013.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 West Cumbria Mining, "What is the plan?", West Cumbria Mining website, accessed 14 January 2020.
- ↑ Sophie Yeo, "Whitehaven: The West Cumbrian Ex-Mining Community Where Coal is Making a Comeback", Desmog website, 24 April 2019.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 West Cumbria Mining, "Woodhouse Colliery planning application environmental statement, non-technical summary", page 3, Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole website, accessed 14 January 2020.
- ↑ Sophie Yeo, "Government Accused of Failing to Show Climate Leadership After Refusing to Block New Coal Mine", Desmog, Jan. 7, 2021.
- ↑ Mining Technology, "Woodhouse Colliery, West Cumbria", Mining Technology website, accessed 14 January 2020.
- ↑ Alex Thomson, Are COP26 promises on coal being broken?, Channel 4, February 4, 2022
- ↑ Sandra Laville, ‘Not the future we should be going for’: the reopening of Wales’s Aberpergwm coalmine, Guardian, March 18, 2022
