New UK coal mine
Discussion
Saw this headline which piqued my interest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55721919
It wasn't until a third of the way through that the article set out the coal will be used for coking steel, and will replace imported coal (so no increase in carbon emissions, and less transport costs).
But the majority of the article was condemnation, it seems from various green bods who can't or won't distinguish between coal used for generating electricity and making steel.
Greta says it means our emissions targets mean "nothing", despite the UK leading the world on removing coal from the power supply.
The Environmental Audit committee chair says "The steel sector needs to develop alternatives to importing coking coal" We, which is exactly what the plan is doing?
The Labour peer Baroness Worthington says "This decision is real laziness of thinking from the government. Just think of signal it sends to all those countries who want to cling on to coal"
I assume if she knows how to make significant quantities of steel without coal, she's keeping it to herself.
Still, we could keep importing steel from China and virtue signal how we have eschewed coal.
All in all it seems a bit sad that a good news story gets a hammering like this
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55721919
It wasn't until a third of the way through that the article set out the coal will be used for coking steel, and will replace imported coal (so no increase in carbon emissions, and less transport costs).
But the majority of the article was condemnation, it seems from various green bods who can't or won't distinguish between coal used for generating electricity and making steel.
Greta says it means our emissions targets mean "nothing", despite the UK leading the world on removing coal from the power supply.
The Environmental Audit committee chair says "The steel sector needs to develop alternatives to importing coking coal" We, which is exactly what the plan is doing?
The Labour peer Baroness Worthington says "This decision is real laziness of thinking from the government. Just think of signal it sends to all those countries who want to cling on to coal"
I assume if she knows how to make significant quantities of steel without coal, she's keeping it to herself.
Still, we could keep importing steel from China and virtue signal how we have eschewed coal.
All in all it seems a bit sad that a good news story gets a hammering like this
Greta should pop over to China and see how far she gets over there.
https://www.powermag.com/chinas-economic-recovery-...
https://youtu.be/d2FEYxkpCQ8
https://www.powermag.com/chinas-economic-recovery-...
PM said:
While other countries, such as Japan and India, are building coal-fired power plants, China is adding the most coal-fired capacity of any country by orders of magnitude. China added 32 GW of coal-fired capacity in 2018, and 44 GW of new coal capacity in 2019. Almost 100 GW are under construction, and another 105 GW are either permitted or applying for permits.
Meanwhile, the weather with Greta Thunberg:https://youtu.be/d2FEYxkpCQ8
Lotobear said:
It's great news and West Cumbria needs to the jobs and investment it would create.
Greta should focus on Germany ploughing lignite out of the ground since their knee jerk reaction (no pun intended) to Fukushima.
Burning heavy oil to drag coking coal from Australia is utter madness
Just up the road from Sellafield. The energy coast, so seems a logical place to put it.Greta should focus on Germany ploughing lignite out of the ground since their knee jerk reaction (no pun intended) to Fukushima.
Burning heavy oil to drag coking coal from Australia is utter madness
PeteinSQ said:
Can you make steel without coke? Clearly we need steel.
Short answer - Yes. Longer answer - Hydrogen can be used as the energy to replace the blast furnace process. The chemistry is more complex to get the carbon and alloying correct. The rest of the steel making can be done with electricity and with a protective atmosphere to maintain the cleanliness.
https://youtu.be/zk5-8DM0OvA
Was in seaham recently,marquis of Londonderry built a port to save money transporting coal to Newcastle for onward sea shipment,boats were twenty deep at peak waiting to be loaded,just along from where open cast mines have recently shut,been refused permission,the single boat in harbour that day,unloading coal from East Europe
Heritage railways have to get the coal from somewhere?
Heritage railways have to get the coal from somewhere?
Lotobear said:
It's great news and West Cumbria needs to the jobs and investment it would create.
Greta should focus on Germany ploughing lignite out of the ground since their knee jerk reaction (no pun intended) to Fukushima.
Burning heavy oil to drag coking coal from Australia is utter madness
I could never understand why they closed the Welsh pits producing "clean", hot burning smokeless anthracite to bring smoky, tarry crap in from Oz and Eastern Europe.Greta should focus on Germany ploughing lignite out of the ground since their knee jerk reaction (no pun intended) to Fukushima.
Burning heavy oil to drag coking coal from Australia is utter madness
My chum has a canal boat with a pot bellied stove. He buys bags of really soft coal originating from Poland (I think) and the yellow smoke is disgusting. Tar drips off the chimney cowl back into the stove.
Can you still buy domestic anthracite?
Starfighter said:
Steam railways have the same problems with sooting up the fire boxes and pipes. Most locos don’t get to stretch their legs above 20mph for “safety” reasons and this compounds the issue. British coal is much cleaner.
True, proper welsh steam coal was great. The Polish replacement started out ok, but the steam engine users didn't buy enough to to keep the good stuff economic.PeteinSQ said:
Can you make steel without coke? Clearly we need steel.
It is possible to smelt iron in a solar furnace but not sure that's very practical in Cumbria.https://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/ir...
I would think that other energy sources would work though e.g.electricity from that nuclear place on the Cumbrian coast, windmills, wave power.
Having said all that, carbon is an ingredient of steel-making albeit typically only 0.3-0.6% of the final product, so some coke would be needed.
It is a great smokescreen (pun geddit) this coal mine.
Whilst they are bring up coking coal from the seabed, in secret, Sellafield nuclear waste deep geological repository testing trials will be being undertaken on the local geology.
Anyone remember NIREX and their spending of billions to come up with nowhere to put UK Nuclear waste? Didn't even get planning permission to build a test "rock laboratory" in West Cumbria.........now this "coal mine" comes along.
Mind you I was working in West Cumbria during the planning enquiry and Nirex staff were in our hotel; they had a game that when horrendously drunk at 2am, they decide on a word that gets put into the next days factual record of the proceedings. I contributed "observation of spiders legs" as one of the NIREX ladies had a low slung pair of jeans which her grunt protuded from and was obviously rather hirstute and as such "it can be seen on the geological strata maps, that this ground is stable, even at the transition seams, such as can be seen just above the area which appears to represent in laymns terms, a spider and its legs" was uttered at the following days session. No wonder with lushes like that and low attention level overpaid civil servants the UK nuclear waste policy is still undecided as far as I know (if it was like the chemical plant which became Eastman I worked at in West Cumbria, then during furlough, Sellafield should have stuffed it out the back gate on nightshift).
Whilst they are bring up coking coal from the seabed, in secret, Sellafield nuclear waste deep geological repository testing trials will be being undertaken on the local geology.
Anyone remember NIREX and their spending of billions to come up with nowhere to put UK Nuclear waste? Didn't even get planning permission to build a test "rock laboratory" in West Cumbria.........now this "coal mine" comes along.
Mind you I was working in West Cumbria during the planning enquiry and Nirex staff were in our hotel; they had a game that when horrendously drunk at 2am, they decide on a word that gets put into the next days factual record of the proceedings. I contributed "observation of spiders legs" as one of the NIREX ladies had a low slung pair of jeans which her grunt protuded from and was obviously rather hirstute and as such "it can be seen on the geological strata maps, that this ground is stable, even at the transition seams, such as can be seen just above the area which appears to represent in laymns terms, a spider and its legs" was uttered at the following days session. No wonder with lushes like that and low attention level overpaid civil servants the UK nuclear waste policy is still undecided as far as I know (if it was like the chemical plant which became Eastman I worked at in West Cumbria, then during furlough, Sellafield should have stuffed it out the back gate on nightshift).
crankedup said:
Coal, I’m never happier then when i’m around steam traction engines. Our Country is built upon coal, I do wish that ‘clean coal technology’ had been further developed.
We led the way, I was working on it late 1980s / early 1990s as coal gasification, then sadly, the dash for gas came along and that was the new "environmental" green powergen. Tell you what, the relatively new gas plant at Carrington (10 years old) is a right filthy one on start up, NOx fumes out the stacks are browner than my dirty water after a bad curry in Nigeria when I'm suffering from Ebola.........I supposed Carrington was never designed though to be on / off but probably at time of sanction quais-baseload, until the electric windmills took off a decade or so ago.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff