The Prime Minister of Poland, Ms. Beata Szydło, opened the International Mining Fair with a positive message on coal. In her address, she stated that Poland wants a power sector based on a secure energy mix, with special places for hard coal and lignite. By 2050, Poland plans to diminish its coal dependency to 50% on the assumption that a new nuclear power plant will be built. Vice Minister for Energy, Mr. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, said that with the investments now being made in new equipment, the coal mining sector will be able to make a real contribution to the Polish economy.

EURACOAL President, Dr. Cieslik, spoke at the fair’s press conference on why the modernisation of coal-fired power plants was a more secure and efficient way to meet climate targets than switching to imported gas. Relying on renewables alone was not yet an option, he said. In Germany, after the nuclear phase out and a reduction in coal/lignite generation, there would be a 200 TWh annual shortfall that must be filled.

At a related conference on coal, organised by the Polish Mining Chamber of Commerce and Industry in co-operation with EURACOAL, the main message was on building a COALition of perhaps ten EU Member States that see a role for secure and affordable coal in the “energy transition”. At its core would be those Member States that voted against adoption of the revised LCP BREF conclusions: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Greece and Slovenia were also seen as possible allies.

Prof. Prusek of the Central Mining Institute (GIG) declared a new focus on mining and combustion technologies in order to reduce the environmental impacts of coal use. Alternative uses of coal are also the subject of active research with ongoing projects around Europe in the fields of coal gasification and hydrogenation. EURACOAL itself is working to establish a new network for European clean coal technologists engaged in globally competitive coal research (CoalTech2051).

Coal lies at the heart of European manufacturing, providing a stable, secure and competitive fuel for power generation.

But European manufacturing is in decline. Between 2000 and 2014, the share of manufacturing in total EU output fell from 18.8% to 15.3%, while 3.5 million jobs were lost.

For many years, the coal industry has argued that European manufacturers needs competitive electricity prices (e.g. A Strategy for Clean Coal in 2012).

The time has come to sound the alarm.  EURACOAL, together with another 124 associations, has signed a Joint Declaration for an ambitious EU industrial strategy with the aim of growing industry’s share in European Union GDP to 20% by 2020.

EURACOAL President, Dr. Wolfgang Cieslik, today launched the 6^th edition of Coal Industry across Europe in the presence of Mr. Keisuke Sadamori, Director of Energy Markets and Security at the International Energy Agency.

Coal Industry across Europe is a comprehensive review, analysing all EU member states that use coal and lignite as well as participants in the Energy Community.  With chapters on socio-economic issues and coal trade developments, this new edition also features a series of special insights covering recent coal-sector investments and cutting-edge R&D that has enhanced productivity at coal mines, improved efficiency at coal-fired power plants and limited the negative environmental impacts of coal use.

After the launch, IEA Director Sadamori presented the Agency’s Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2016.  He said that coal demand will plateau over the next five years:  while demand stalls in China, falling demand in the US and the EU will be balanced by rising consumption in India and South East Asia.  Mr. Sadamori explained that the surge in coal prices during 2016 was mainly due to policy action in China to cut coal production capacity and so curb oversupply.

The new EURACOAL publication is freely available here, while the IEA coal market report can be purchased from the IEA bookshop.

Presentations from the event are available here.

On this St. Barbara’s Day, the EURACOAL Secretariat wishes all miners good fortitude. We remember colleagues who will miss the traditional celebrations, including in copper mining. Let the lights shine bright thanks to the heroic work of miners everywhere.

Photo by Wusel007 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

EURACOAL President, Dr Wolfgang Cieslik of STEAG, gave a keynote address at the 36^th Coaltrans World Coal Conference in Lisbon on Monday, 17 October 2016.

The conference brought together over 300 coal industry leaders from around the world, including producers, consumers, traders and government officials.

In his presentation, which was followed by an on-stage interview, Dr Cieslik observed that current regulations have killed the European electricity market. He called for policy stability to re-establish trust in the market.

Dr Cieslik expressed confidence in coal, noting that it will remain his company’s main business over the coming years. Without conventional thermal power generation, it would be impossible to ensure reliable power supply in Germany and elsewhere, he concluded.

Chaired by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Director – Internal Energy Market at DG Energy, and EURACOAL Vice President, Vladimír Budinský, the 12^th EC-EURACOAL Coal Dialogue examined the future role of coal after the recent round of climate negotiations in Paris.  Speakers included MEP Claude Turmes (Greens/EFA, LU) and Mr. Dumitru Fornea, a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

Coal represents one quarter of EU electricity demand, mostly from indigenous coal, and supports 300 000 direct jobs.  While MEP Turmes argued that there was no room for coal in the future EU energy mix, all agreed that the EU needs a response to the difficult question of coal in the “energy transition”.

To read the full report and presentation please follow this link.

The well-known Coaltrans event gathers over 500 industry innovators and thought leaders for three days of constructive discussion, bringing key macro trends and pricing overviews, lots of one-to-one meetings and deal making, technical content, provocative interactive debates and workshops, and keynote industry interviews.

Some of the topics for this year are:

• Oil, gas, carbon, coal: a perfect storm of risks for coal, but how much demand is at risk?
• Snapshot price forecasts: five-year forecasts for coal prices, oil prices and LNG prices
• Are thermal coal prices becoming more dependent on currency movements than on demand and supply?
• How much can the Middle East and Turkey support Atlantic coal trade?

With speakers from International Energy Agency, Noble Resources, Uniper, RWE Supply & Trading and many others. EURACOAL members will get a 10% discount off the registration fee for the event.

Please see more details at the following link: www.coaltrans.com.

In light of the EU European Trading System reform, the European Association for Coal and Lignite, EURACOAL, welcomes the Commission proposal of July 2015.

EURACOAL firmly believes in a market-based approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as the EU ETS. The single European cap ensures that climate policy targets are achieved. The price follows from the target and reflects the cost of CO₂ reduction. If the price of allowances is low, then this means that the CO₂ reduction target has been achieved at a low cost – a good outcome. Calls for a particular “carbon price” would undermine the ETS as a market-driven trading system.

EURACOAL presents in its position paper several points where we consider that improvements could be made, namely the Modernisation and Innovation Funds, the Market Stability Reserve, international credits, the free allocations for projects in eligible Member States and for district heating / CHP, the distribution between auctioning and free allowances, allowance fungibility and the New Entrants Reserve.

For over a quarter of a century, climate science has been widely debated, with a range of views expressed on the role that carbon dioxide (CO₂) plays in climate change. Here, two prominent scientists present their views not only on climate science, but also on energy supply and global politics: one at the Vatican and the other at a EURACOAL-hosted dinner debate in the European Parliament.

Climate Gods

Climate science advisor to the Pope and the German Chancellor, Prof. Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, argues that the Earth is like a patient suffering from a fever. If this fever can be managed below a temperature rise of 2°C – his so-called “planetary guardrail” – then humanity might survive.

For Prof. Schellnhuber, the science is clear: an overwhelming body of evidence shows that global warming is driven by greenhouse-gas emissions which are the result of burning fossil fuels, creating intolerable risks. Any delay to mitigation measures may jeopardise climate stability – Prof. Schellnhuber’s “tipping points” of unstable jet streams, major methane releases, erratic El Niño events, disintegrating ice sheets and social disruption.

On 18 June 2015 at the Vatican, with a mix of science and politics, he explained his thinking not only on extreme climate change, but also on the gross inequity of global wealth distribution; wealth that was largely created by the “carbon powers”, beginning with the UK and Europe, followed by the US and more recently by China. This 20-minute amateur video of his presentation offers a concise summary of his position. Background papers were published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Holy See Press Office, based on a paper by Prof. Schellnhuber published in 2014 by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Climate Demons

Greenpeace founder and environmental scientist, Dr. Patrick Moore, denies claims that CO₂ is a pollutant and is sceptical that it will cause much warming of the climate. He notes that far from being a harmful greenhouse gas, CO₂ is necessary for life on Earth. However, the oceans remove CO₂ from the atmosphere by natural absorption; then crustaceans (shellfish) convert it to carbonate minerals, ultimately forming sedimentary rocks such as limestone, chalk and marble in which the CO₂ is locked away. He warns that atmospheric CO₂ concentrations had fallen over time to dangerously low levels, threatening plant life and hence all life.

Dr. Moore believes that rising CO₂ levels are good for life – his “planetary guardrail” being the 180 ppm below which plants die, a level that might have been reached if man had not burnt fossil fuels. On 2 February 2016, Dr. Moore presented his thesis at a dinner debate in the European Parliament, Strasbourg, in front of MEPs, industry representatives and an IPCC scientist who brought balance to the debate. EURACOAL has published a full report of the dinner debate which was held under the Chatham House rule. This 40-minute video is of an earlier, similar presentation given on 14 October 2015 at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London.

Climate Socialism

Prof. Schellnhuber has a unique understanding of complex, nonlinear systems and chaos theory; his understanding goes far beyond that of ordinary laypeople and experts in particular disciplines. He says that climate change, caused by the tiny CO₂ molecule, can trigger sudden, irreversible and large-scale disruptions in the Earth systems, e.g. a sea-level rise of seven metres if the Greenland ice sheet were to melt. He cites a World Bank report that he himself authored on why a 4°C warmer world has to be avoided and so justifies a “master plan” for the planet – namely, his “Great Transformation”.

In the context of climate policy, scientists and moral philosophers, including Prof. Schellnhuber, refer to the climate as “our common good”. He calls for new property rights that give ownership of the atmosphere to humankind through carbon pricing and questions if it is ethical to exploit fossil fuel reserves as private goods for the benefit of a small, privileged group of mankind, generating extreme wealth for a few.

The COP21 Paris Agreement has legally binding obligations on stocktaking and transparency, but not on emission targets: only the “well below 2°C” limit on global temperature rise. Even with all the major COP21 pledges (INDCs), and regardless of the EU’s own ambitious targets, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will increase by 2030.

The EU’s proposed target for 2030, if reached, would see the Union’s GHG emissions fall to just 6% of the global total. And yet, global emissions still rise: the planet is not saved. The proposed EU ETS reductions would mean that emissions from the sectors covered must drop to zero by 2058. The stark reality of this proposal is that Europe would be devoid of all energy-intensive industries and perhaps have little left in the way of manufacturing industry. Jobs and emissions would be outsourced to every other region of the world.

A less ambitious climate target, achieved by making efficiency improvements across the whole economy and including transport into the EU ETS, could put Europe on a better path. EURACOAL calls on President Tusk and all 28 EU leaders to reject the 40% target and to adopt a less ambitious, more realistic target that can deliver more for Europe, as described in our white paper, “Why less climate ambition would deliver more for the EU“.

The letter from EURACOAL President Cieslik is available in all the working languages of the EU: Bulgarian; Croatian; Czech; Danish; Dutch; English; Estonian; Finnish; French; German; Greek; Hungarian; Italian; Latvian; Lithuanian; Polish; Portuguese; Romanian; Slovak; Slovenian; Spanish; Swedish.

EURACOAL’s analysis of the possible vote in the Council shows that, for example, either Greece AND Romania, OR Spain, OR the UK must vote against, assuming that the Visegrád Group is united in its opposition to the 40% target. Note also that a Member State must ask for the old qualified majority vote (QMV) rule to be used, otherwise more Member States would have to vote against.