Closing the Chapter on Coal

Eleanor delves into the historical significance of coal and its role in shaping the UK. She explores the potential future of fossil fuel consumption in the UK and examines the steps that will need to be taken to create a truly just green transition for this industry.

Photo by Johannes Heel on Unsplash

The recent closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant in Nottinghamshire, the UK's last remaining coal-fired station, is a historic moment. It makes the United Kingdom, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, the first G7 country to effectively end the use of coal.

The motivation behind this decision, according to the previous UK government (the deadline was brought forward by the Conservatives in 2021), was consistent with their plans to “decarbonise the power sector and eliminate the UK's contribution to climate change by 2020"

The UK's relationship with coal is a pertinent one; notably, the world’s first coal-burning power plant was opened in London in 1882. And during Britain's 142-year history of coal use, hundreds of coal-fired power plants have been opened. At its peak, Britain’s coal generation was formed of over 250 cooling towers up and down the country.

But in addition to being one of the most carbon-intensive fossil fuels and proven to generate harmful environmental pollution, the use of coal as an economically justifiable producer of energy has plummeted significantly in the past century.

Even as far back as the 1960s, when Ratcliffe first opened, the discovery of North Sea oil and gas opened the way for new energy supplies, and fuels that will continue, as The Financial Times reports, “to supply Britain until at least 2030."

The 1980s saw an expanded alteration of the use of coal in Britain. The announced closure of dozens of coal mines by Thatcher’s government in 1985 came after a year-long miners' strike and led to nationwide outrage. For many workers and their families, whose livelihoods depended on the jobs the coal industry gave them, this so-called ‘transition’ away from coal was nothing more than politically motivated ambition.

Academics and authors Huw Beynon and Ray Hudson state that, environmentally speaking, this closure did nothing to facilitate the decarbonisation of the economy, nor were there plans to achieve such an outcome. In the end, the oil and gas industries benefitted from the closure of coal, highlighting the complex challenges of holistic decarbonisation.

A more recent talking point, issued in 2001, was the Larger Combustion Plan Directive, which set out to reduce carbon emissions throughout the EU. At the point the LCPD came into effect, there were 21 remaining coal plants in the UK. 23 years later, the UK has bid farewell to so-called ‘king coal', emitted persistently by powerplant chimneys for hundreds of years.

For environmental campaigners, the move has been a welcome accomplishment for the government, especially as it aims to cement its position in global climate leadership. Campaign groups such as Greenpeace have described it as “a huge victory for the climate won over decades.”

But in a world where coal still generates around a third of global energy, what significance does this move have for Britain's fossil fuel infrastructure?

A ‘just transition’?

Many conversations have occurred in recent years concerning a ‘just transition’, away from the fossil fuel industry and towards cleaner and greener renewable energy. Whether that's in government policy, environmental activism, or workers' rights, it has become somewhat of a buzzword, especially by companies that still profit enormously from the fossil fuel industry, such as BP.

Indeed, the British coal industry is now dead and buried, but the UK still has a long way to go before it transitions completely away from non-renewable energy. Nowadays, British energy is compromised by a wide range of supplies, a so-called electricity mix. But statistics from 2022, the most recent year for which this date is available, outline that most of the energy consumed by the UK is still derived from fossil fuels. 78.4% of our energy in 2022 was being produced by oil, gas, and coal, with more fossil fuel projects set to open, including the controversial Rosebank oil field, 80 miles off the Shetland coast.

On the other hand, the UK has done a considerably good job at marketing itself as a global leader in renewable energy use. 2020 marked the first year in its history that electricity was generated predominantly from renewable energy, with 43% coming from a mix of wind, solar, bioenergy, and hydroelectric sources. And last year, wind turbines generated more electricity than gas in the UK for the first time.

Photo by Nicholas Doherty on Unsplash

And in this most recent case of the closure of Ratcliffe, environmental campaign groups such as Friends of the Earth are hailing it a victory for a just transition away from fossil fuels.

It was a process of closure that continually worked with its workers and unions to ensure that new jobs could be found to suit workers and meet their established skills, or otherwise support them to reskill and retrain. Additionally, workers were released flexibly, with full redundancy pay.

The old reliance on coal, oil, and gas is starting to wane, and the simplistic solution to energy shortages: burning more fossil fuels, is simply not cutting it anymore. John Forster, head of the Forster Group, a provider of roofing and solar services, commented last month that “Our future lies in both large-scale and microgeneration of renewables... this shift towards a low-carbon, low-cost energy system is essential not only for meeting climate targets but for ensuring energy security.”

Ratcliffe’s closure has been lauded as a positive outcome for both people and planet. But can the same be said for future oil and gas closures?

Unions have warned that more than 30,000 jobs are under threat after the Labour government announced plans to ban new licences for oil and gas production in the UK. And the exploitation of workers, according to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre is still a threat under green energy. It cannot continue as usual following this much sought-after ‘just transition’.

Friends of the Earth also commented in its statement that "as the UK continues to ditch dirty energy, it mustn’t make the same mistakes. Those currently working in the fossil fuel industry need support from government and councils to move into green jobs fit for the future”.

The coal industry has seen a turbulent past few decades. And at times it was dismantled with brusque haste, to the benefit of the oil and gas industries, and at the cost of many of those who depended upon it. Ratcliffe’s closure marks a deviation away from this, showing a genuine consideration for people and their futures. Today we are facing another significant shift- away from all so-called ‘dirty’ energy, and many are keen not to make the same mistakes as were made with coal. The current Labour Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, even outlined that “this cannot be a re-run of the 1980s.”

As we strive to transition to a cleaner, greener, and fairer future for all, are we better prepared this time?

About the author: Eleanor Meehan is a master's student studying International Journalism at the University of Stirling, Scotland.