The UK government is moving to remove a ban on the opening and licensing of new coal mines from one of its major net zero laws.
On Tuesday, the government said that a complete ban on new coal mines “isn’t appropriate” and will oppose an amendment that was added to the Energy Security Bill, now known as the Energy Bill, by peers in the House of Lords in April.
Prohibiting
The original amendment said that the prohibition of new coal mines must take place within six months of the day on which the bill is passed, with the Secretary of State prohibiting the opening and licensing of new coal mines.A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email: “The Energy Bill will ensure we have cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy for the future. While our reliance on coal is rapidly diminishing, there is still a need for it in industries such as steel and cement so now is not the right time to make changes.
“We will continue to listen to representations made by Members as the passage of the bill continues but oppose this amendment because a complete ban isn’t appropriate and risks meeting future demand from our own resources,” she added.
The reason peers House of Lords peer Lord Teverson attempted to add the ban to the bill was due to the decision to allow a new coal mine to go ahead for the first time in decades.
The coking coal mine on the edge of Whitehaven in Cumbria is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tonnes per year.
In April, Teverson said: “I am very proud of Britain’s reputation in terms of climate change. That is why it is absolutely wrong that we should trash that reputation by one decision, which is to open a new UK coal mine. And who knows if that happens once it can happen again.”
Tory former Cabinet minister Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Committee which advises the government, was also incensed about the coal mine at the time.
“There’s no doubt whatsoever that allowing this coal mine undermines our international ability to lead the world to a solution, which alone will stop this existential threat of climate change,” he said in April.
“If it wants to uphold that it cannot allow any new coal mines and it must find a way to stop mining, which will increase the emissions from the most damaging means of generation,” Deben said.
Coal
UK Minister for Energy Efficiency Minister Lord Callanan previously warned that coal will be required for steel production for some time, with a steel industry that still employs “many tens of thousands of people.” Callanan also said that he favoured phasing out of coal-fired power plants as a “more proportionate response than an outright prohibition on coal mining.”He said the amount of coal used in steelmaking would be “broadly the same” with or without the mine.
“Consequently, I consider that the proposed development would have a broadly neutral effect on the global release of GHG (greenhouse gas) from coal used in steel making whether or not end-use emissions are taken into account,” he wrote.
Ofgem
In June, it was announced that Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem, under a new specific duty, will now have to support the government to meet its legal obligation to get to net zero by 2050.The role of Ofgem is historically to regulate the monopoly companies which run the gas and electricity networks and takes decisions on price controls and enforcement.
It already has a duty to consider a reduction in greenhouse gases, but under the new duty, it will be tasked with supporting the government to reach its 2050 net zero target, as required by the Climate Change Act 2008.
The duty will mean everyday decisions Ofgem makes as the regulator will have to assist the secretary of state in meeting the UK’s net zero targets and carbon budgets.
