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Chairman of the Climate Change Committee Lord Deben has condemned the government’s decision to approve a new deep coal mine in Cumbria.
Plans for the £165M coal mine were given the green light by communities secretary Michael Gove yesterday after years of political and legal wrangling. It will be the first deep coal mine to be developed in the UK for 30 years.
West Cumbria Mining, which has been working on the plans for the mine since 2014, has said that the coal mined will be used for metallurgical purposes and the mining operation would reduce reliance on imported coal. It has said that 16.4M.t of coal for steel production are imported to the UK and Europe from the US each year and having a UK source for 3M.t would cut 20,000t of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
However, Lord Deben cited projections that the mine will in fact increase UK emissions by 0.4 MtCO2e per year – which is more that the level of annual emissions projected from all open UK coal mines to 2050.
“Phasing out coal use is the clearest requirement of the global effort towards Net Zero,” Lord Deben said. “We condemn, therefore, the Secretary of State’s decision to consent a new deep coal mine in Cumbria, contrary to our previous advice.
“This decision grows global emissions and undermines UK efforts to achieve Net Zero. It runs counter to the UK’s stated aims as COP26 President and sends entirely the wrong signal to other countries about the UK’s climate priorities. The UK’s hard-fought global influence on climate is diminished by today’s decision.”
Former British Steel chief executive Ron Deelan added that the coal mine is “a completely unnecessary step for the British steel industry”, while University of Lancaster energy professor Rebecca Willis said that “there is no business case or scientific justification for this mine”.
Willis added: “It will harm the UK's climate credentials and do very little for communities in Cumbria where the focus should be on delivering on long term, secure and green jobs."
Plans for the £165M coal mine were originally approved by Cumbria County Council in October 2020. Since then, former communities secretary Robert Jenrick called in the decision and asked the Planning Inspectorate to carry out a formal evaluation of the scheme.
Planning inspector Stephen Normington opened a public enquiry in September 2021 and over the course of many months took evidence from environmental groups, stakeholders and the government. The findings have since been submitted to planning ministers, who are still considering the report.
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clearly there is a business case for this mine.
This is an interesting conundrum for The Institution of Civil Engineers and those who manage its charter. Individual Chartered Engineers need to ply their trade, they need an income to support their families. Should they stand aside and let the Civil Engineering aspects of this project be undertaken by others who may be un-qualified to manage the risks? How is their professional duty seen?