Cumbria coalmine redundant before it even opens, say campaigners

theguardian.com:

A new coalmine proposed for Cumbria is likely to be redundant before it even opens because the steelmakers that are its target market are moving so rapidly away from fossil fuels, analysis from green campaigners claims.

Steelmakers across Europe are moving to “green steel”, which uses renewable energy and modern techniques to avoid the need for coking coal of the type that the proposed mine in Whitehaven would produce.

According to analysis from Friends of the Earth, about three-quarters of EU blast furnace steel-making capacity will reach the end of its life and require reinvestment by 2030. Most of this is likely to be replaced with low-carbon technologies that do not require coking coal. This would vastly restrict the available market for any Cumbrian coal.

Tony Bosworth, coal campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “The UK steel industry will buy only a small percentage of the Cumbrian coal, and with European steelmakers already moving to greener steel production, the market for this mine is declining before it has even opened. The Whitehaven mine risks becoming a stranded asset, with no market for its coal, and potential consequences for the jobs the developers claim.”

A decision on the Whitehaven mine is due to be made by 7 July, after years of dispute over planning. The proposals were delayed during the UK’s hosting of the Cop26 UN climate summit last year, when the government risked embarrassment on the world stage by opening a new coalmine while urging other countries to give up coal.

Ministers and some Conservative MPs have argued that the Cumbrian mine could go ahead despite the UK’s climate commitments because it would produce coking coal, rather than coal for use in power stations, which is the main source of