[Closed] Should we re open the pits ?

No, next

Yes. If we have the resources then we should use them and not buy in from elsewhere.
Could bring our own energy prices down and we could maybe export some too, might also provide some jobs.

Only if there's coal there which can be extracted cost effectively. If not, what's the point?

Yes! I've met a few folk from the midlands/northern regions whom, for the good of humanity, would be best kept underground.

Yes! I've met a few folk from the midlands/northern regions whom, for the good of humanity, would be best kept underground.

That's no way to talk about Hora.

Well, last time I was in Sheffield, everyone still looked like this. So yes.
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Am no expert but heard someone say that having been left unmaintained, flooded etc makes 're-opening' impossible.

If it was financially viable to mine coal surly someone would be? Or will be eventually.

There would seem to be some money left in coal

[url= http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/huge-druridge-bay-opencast-mine-5117230 ]OOOH a bit close to my house ![/url]

I suspect at some point we will need to, using robot mining equipment.

There would seem to be some money left in coal

That's opencast not a pit. The decent easy stuff like that was finished off years ago, what's left is the bottom of the barrel and they'll struggle to make a profit.

Yorkshiremen seem to be continually banging on about how chipper they remain despite their squalid living conditions..

I imagine they would be happy to mine coal with their bare teeth for free just so that they could boast about it to anyone stupid enough to listen

That's opencast not a pit. The decent easy stuff like that was finished off years ago, what's left is the bottom of the barrel and they'll struggle to make a profit.

Even though that's thermal coal, and not coking coal or PCI, they'll still be making a profit.

That's opencast not a pit. The decent easy stuff like that was finished off years ago, what's left is the bottom of the barrel and they'll struggle to make a profit.

Believe it or not I had forgot all about the planned opencast, when I put the thread up. I was just listening to Q time (I think) and they were talking about energy security, and the question just popped into my head, and I was interested in what STW thought about it.

Having given it a little bit of thought it, it would seem to be a huge question. The one thing I would like to see is a large amount of young people trained in engineering, even if opening them was unprofitable, the effect of having more well trained engineers in the future could only be good for the economy especially in areas which are already pretty grim.

some areas of thought

Carbon emissions
Energy security
profitability
training opertunities
it's grim up North

Still fetching plenty of coal out the ground round here..

It depends whether we're happy to continue to import coal from mines in China and Russia with awful health and safety records, or provide jobs for British people.

They've open cast lots of old pits around here the last decade or more cheap and most effective than digging tunnels. Pretty sure they have more plans for a few more.

or provide jobs for British people

That question was answered a long time ago. Dole not coal was the conclusion.

BTW reopening pits (even if you could) would be pointless as importing coal is cheaper than mining in the UK. For it to be economically viable to consumers would require a government subsidy, something which will be illegal under EU rules in 2018.

Yeah now that the union is broken we can get people to work for the same wage as a Chinese miner , ,but we won't have to reduce the electricity bills as we can blame it on the cost of reopening pits and training the workforce to develop skills lost since we closed all the pits 😈

I went to the excellent People's Museum in Manchester this week and there is a photo exhibition about a pit that is still open in Barnsley. Quite an eye opener and the recorded comments from some of the miners were very interesting.

For it to be economically viable to consumers would require a government subsidy, something which will be illegal under EU rules in 2018.

I was unaware of this and just googled it. Thanks for the heads up.

The degree to which democracy is being eroded and replaced by Chicago School economic edicts continues to astound and depress me

No, definitely not. Coal has no place in a world where we should be looking to reduce, and eventually eliminate completely, our reliance on fossil fuels.

The lass in the foreground in matt_outandabout's photo is far too pretty to be a Sheffield local 😉

It's a filthy fuel. It'll make it much harder to reduce our carbon output. It'll also lead to dirtier air and it's not exactly the safest way to make a living.

The answer to our energy issues is use less energy, not find more sources to waste!

It's a filthy fuel. It'll make it much harder to reduce our carbon output. It'll also lead to dirtier air and it's not exactly the safest way to make a living.

The answer to our energy issues is use less energy, not find more sources to waste!

It'll make it much harder to reduce our carbon output.

Reopening UK pits wouldn't increase our coal consumption, it would simply reduce our dependency on imported coal.

We still use a hell of lot of coal, despite the dash for gas, about the same as 20 years ago. The difference now though is that unlike 20 years ago we import most of it.

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I worked in opencast mining for 10 years until the company I worked for went bust earlier this year. Ernie is right. The world coal price has been fairly low for a couple of years. The main reason being America dumping vast quantities of coal cheaply on the market. Sites are becoming more marginal, higher mining ratios and greater uncertainty of geology. High diesel costs also not helping. It is a shame to see areas struggling now as many people in the sector were dedicated and skilled, and prepared to work long hours.
We still require coal for a large portion of electricity supply, but it is a sector governments are loathe to support. We could have been at the forefront of carbon capture and storage development, however an experimental scheme at Longannet power station fell by tge wayside

it's not exactly the safest way to make a living.

That's true, I've been working in the mining industry for over 25yrs, and I've died on multiple occasions now 😆

When [s]Should[/s] will we re open the pits ?

fixed that for you.

ton - Member
When Should will we re open the pits ?
fixed that for you.

Deep and true ton, probably better to do it in a controlled manner than having to to do it in a real rush.

athgray - Member

We still require coal for a large portion of electricity supply, but it is a sector governments are loathe to support. We could have been at the forefront of carbon capture and storage development, however an experimental scheme at Longannet power station fell by tge wayside

Precisely. We're still going to need power from somewhere in the future and until fusion sorted we have a choice between unreliable renewables and undesirable nuclear or fossil fuels. With the right research coal can be mined at lower costs and carbon captured at source.

a certain former leader of the miners union said that mining would happen on a large scale in the future.

I imagine they would be happy to mine coal with their bare teeth for free just so that they could boast about it to [b]'other side of the pennines[/b]

FTFY

Precisely. We're still going to need power from somewhere in the future and until fusion sorted we have a choice between unreliable renewables and undesirable nuclear or fossil fuels. With the right research coal can be mined at lower costs and carbon captured at source.

CCS is a political hot potato. Successive governments allocate funding for it at the cheep feasibility study/pre-FEED/FEED stage, then as soon as projects get anywhere near some actual investment being required, they're canned and more money spent on more feasability studies.

The stupid thing is Don Valley CCS is now being paid for out of Korea/Europe so all that subsidy/profit is going abroad.

Currently about 40% of the electricitybeing used daily is generated by burning coal.1.5% is coming in on the Dutch interconecter and 3.5% from France.All basically money going out of the country.

That's true, I've been working in the mining industry for over 25yrs, and I've died on multiple occasions now 😆

I know, people do talk bollox, I heard some muppet say smoking was bad for you the other day, but I've been smoking 40 a day since I was 12 and I'm still here at 48. 🙄

Coal mining wouldn't employ that many people.

it would probably employ as many as bike shops do I reckon. 😐

Dont know about the pits, but a typical opencast site moving 200,000m3 muck a week running 24hours might employ about 200 people directly. There is a lot of indirect jobs reliant to some degree on the sector though.
Suppliers, consultants, haulage firms, on site contractors, customers,Councils, SEPA/EPA, and other government bodies have employees dependant on coal production to some degree

This does not take into account other businesses and services eg shops, mechanics, barbers, schools and libraries, all of which suffer when an area loses an industry that may directly employ 2 or 3 thousand people. The knock on effects can be quite dramatic. Personal experience of Ayreshire for example, towns already struggling have had the final nail drilled into the coffin this year.

Coal could have benefited from some of the tax breaks and assistance from government at both UK and Scottish level provided to other sectors.

I am not complaining about wind farms though as they are now partly responsible for my current employment.

coal was, and still is the most viable fuel option for the uk.
so good infact, all the fashionista's on here are having fancy stoves fitted to burn fossil, cos when all the tree's are gone............old king coal will be waiting and smiling for you.

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Coal seems unfashionable, however over 42% of the Worlds electricity is produced using it. This is likely to be the case long after North Sea oil reserves have run dry. The UK is in the unique position of having a long history in the industry and a skills/knowledge base as well as a will to see the World reduce CO2 emissions long term.

We could be at the forefront of developing new technologies, however test on CC&S, biomass and coal gassification would be helped with consistency of supply from indigenous sources.

Regardless of what energy source that the UK decides to use, there will always be somebody that complains about it.

But then they still want electricity and heating 🙄

"it would probably employ as many as bike shops do I reckon."

The government should open bike shops then.

There is a lot of indirect jobs reliant to some degree on the sector though.

Soap suppliers must do well 😉

Some interesting numbers here for those that like'em,

http://www.ukcoal.com/world-coal-statistics.html

Not sure how reliable, our reserves are dwarfed by USA / Russia/ China and just about every other country, but then our use is only a fraction of what we do have. Presumably though some coal is cheaper to produce than others which is why we import.

Also found this so it's not just all oop north yer know.

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How on earth did the South Midlands achieve such an accurate figure?!