The proposed new Woodhouse colliery will emit carbon to the equivalent of one million houses and is incompatible with UK climate ambitions according to charity Green Alliance.
In a statement today, the charity also claimed that research refutes Cumbria County Council’s assertion that the mine will be carbon neutral.
Coal from the mine is intended for steelmaking, which would produce 8.4 million tonnes per year of CO2 per year, the report said.
“The UK has set a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and has committed to switch to lower carbon steel production, announcing a Clean Steel Fund in August 2019. The proposed Cumbria mine will jeopardise these ambitions.”
Today’s report was from a briefing by Professors Rebecca Willis and Mike Berners-Lee, Rosie Watson and Mike Elm.
It is from their document: The Case Against New Coal Mines, a policy insight published by Green Alliance, January 2020.
The report outlines four ways the steel industry should be cutting carbon: production but adds that “opening a new coal mine at this point will hinder this strategy by ensuring the continued availability of cheap coal”.
Colliery staff were unavailable for comment.
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