Is Coal Out of Fashion?
30 years after the start of the bitterest industrial action of our times, the miners strike, the UK is facing the prospect of just one single deep coal mine remaining in business.
So has coal gone out of fashion? No, coal has overtaken gas as the single largest source of electricity generation in 2012/13 with 38% compared to 28% of gas.
So if coal is still essential even in an anti-fossil fuel climate, why are our pits closing and why has that bitter dispute of the 1980s seemingly achieved nothing? Nearly 200 pits were still functioning during that period, well below the 1,000 odd earlier in the century, within 18 months it will be just 1.
Something therefore doesn’t make sense, energy demand is climbing again after the recession, coal is the single largest generation source for our electricity needs, yet our pits are dwindling to nothing.
The answer is gas, shale gas to be precise, the subject of much debate in the UK, centering on fracking, but the subject of much excitement and productivity in the US. It’s popularity is to such an extent already that the US finds little use for their indigenous coal production and is shipping it out in droves, at below market prices, against a weak dollar leaving otherwise viable UK coal producers uneconomic in comparison.
Of the 38% of coal used in electricity generation in 2012/12 just 4% came from UK sources, a sad indictment.
Regardless of your environmental perspective, renewable generation cannot grow quickly enough and operate consistently enough to replace the ageing UK power plants, or to offset the need for new nuclear facilities. On top of this the strong backlash against fracking and shale gas, and the decimation of our coal industry means we’re as dirty as ever, but with even greater dependence on (currently) friendly foreign nations.
A conclusion that no side in the dispute of the 1980s wanted.
To understand your supplier’s fuel mix visit our dedicated supplier pages, don’t expect to see too much UK coal in there though.