The view from England: The UK’s burning decision on coal

Boris Johnson’s government seems set to approve the first new underground coal mine in the U.K. for 36 years. Such an outcome (a decision is due by July 7) will be heavily criticized by environmental groups, but would be a welcome fillip for the British mining industry after 100 years of declining coal production.

Coal mining has always attracted mixed emotions. The imminent planning decision on Woodhouse colliery in Cumbria comes almost exactly 180 years after a Royal Commission report caused public dismay at the extent of human degradation in U.K. coal mines. The report in 1842 concluded mine owners had little concern for the welfare of their workers, and that it was common for children under eight to be employed underground.

Encouraged by Queen Victoria (who reigned 1837-1901), Parliament hastily passed the Mines and Collieries Bill, which prohibited all underground work for women and girls, and for boys under 10. Further legislation in 1850 introduced the appointment of mine inspectors, but over 1,000 lives were still being lost each year in mining accidents. Legislation in 1872 finally required pit managers to hold safety certification.

There is no mention of coal mining in the Domesday Book of 1086 (although lead and iron mines are recorded) but coal was certainly being burned in Britain before we were first invaded by the Romans (55 BC under Julius Caesar). By the 13th century there are records of coal diggings at numerous locations, and the first recorded underground coal mine was beneath the Firth of Forth in 1575.

Coal production increased dramatically in the early 19th century as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and the mines were already important to the economy by the time Victoria came to the throne. Coal production in the U.K. peaked in 1913 at 287 million tonnes from over 2,500 underground mines and almost 100 surface operations. In that year, however, 1,753 miners were killed at work (including 439 in the Senghenydd disaster), and a staggering 178,000 were injured. It is hardly surprising that on the outbreak of WWI the following year, almost one quarter of the 1.1 million mine workers enlisted for the army (and their bravery was reflected in the award of 50 Victoria Crosses).

The main mine site of the Cumbria coal mine will be located at the Marchon site based on public consultation. Credit: West Cumbria Mining

By the end of World War II in 1945 there were still almost 1,000 coal mines in the U.K., employing over 500,000 men and producing almost 180 million tonnes per year. However, over the next 50 years the industry suffered lower coal prices, competition from overseas producers and alternative power sources. By 1995 almost all of the U.K.’s coal operations had closed (including 115 mines shuttered by Margaret Thatcher between 1979 and 1990). In 2015 the country’s last underground coal mine, Kellingley in North Yorkshire, was closed.

In the 30-year period between 1981 and 2011, coal production had slumped from 128 million tonnes to under 19 million tonnes, and output was just 1.7 million tonnes in 2020. Almost all of this current production is from surface operations, with just the 100,000-tonne per year Aberpergwm mine near Neath in South Wales contributing significant amounts of underground coal. This drift mine received a licence to reopen two years ago, and extracts high quality anthracite for the nearby Port Talbot steel works.

Aberpergwm might now be joined by a second underground coal mine. Two years ago (for the third time), Cumbria County Council approved development of the country’s first new underground coal mine since Asfordby in 1986. Although the U.K. will cease all coal-fired electricity generation by October 2024, it is intended that the Woodhouse colliery, near Whitehaven in West Cumbria, will extract metallurgical coal to replace imports of coke.

Unfortunately, Cumbria County Council decided in February 2021 to return the planning application to their Development Control and Regulation Committee for re-determination. One month later the Secretary of State for Communities, Robert Jenrick, announced he was ‘calling in’ the planning application for review.

For the past year, Jenrick’s replacement, Michael Gove, has been faced with a tough decision. Coal mining is deeply unpopular, and goes against the government’s own CO2 commitments. Nevertheless, boosting energy security and reducing the country’s dependence on Russia is crucial, and Cumbria is crying out for skilled, long-term, well-paid private-sector jobs.

The Prime Minister recently offered a clue to government thinking when, in response to a question in Parliament, he said “it makes no sense to be importing coal, particularly for metallurgical purposes, when we have our own domestic resources”. Alleluia.