Burning coal emits more CO2 than any other fuel source for the amount of energy it produces. Burning coal also pollutes our air with many other hazardous gasses, including nitrogen oxide, mercury, and sulphur dioxide – with global and local consequences for climate change, the natural environment, and our own health.
Globally, the amount of coal we burn each year is still increasing, with no end in sight. Coal contributed most to the growth in CO2 since the pandemic (2019), accounting for around 70% of the growth in CO2 in 2023. Despite the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and many COPs, coal continues to plague hopes of limiting climate change to 1.5c.
Coal is primarily burned to generate electricity in large power plants, but it is also used to generate heat directly by burning it in the fireplaces of homes. Where this domestic use of coal occurs, it’s a significant source of fine particulate matter air pollution within the home. Because of the small particulate size, the “toxins may enter the bloodstream and be transported around the body, lodging in the heart, brain and other organs”.
Another globally significant use of coal is to consume it at steelworks. The coal used to produce 1 tonne of steel emits approximately 2 tonnes of CO2. Coal used in making steel is responsible for 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and it’s increasing. Evidence indicates carbon capture and storage will never be able to deliver the CO2 savings hoped for despite time and huge investment in research and testing. However, methods of making steel without coal offer better hope of decarbonisation. More investment and political commitment is needed to accelerate and scale up these methods see Coal in Steel.
Decreasing amounts of coal used in power plants to generate electricity and in household fireplaces “has been a major factor in reducing emissions of particulate matter”. Coal for electricity generation has been displaced primarily by natural gas and renewables, mostly wind. In 2023, coal contributed just 1.3% (0.9 millions of tonnes of oil equivalent) to the energy mix to the National Grid, continuing the declining trend. There were a number of periods where coal contributed nothing to national energy production. In contrast, just over a decade earlier in 2012, coal contributed an average (and median) of just 42-43%, and peaks of 61%, to the national grid. That means, in one decade, the UK’s reliance on coal to generate electricity has reduced by over 40x.
With the closure of West Burton power station and conversion to biomass of all Drax power station units, the UK on-track for the Government’s 2024 coal-power phase out target with the UK's last coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, due to finally close at the end of September 2024.
There are two steelworks producing 'primary' steel in the UK – TATA steelworks in Port Talbot, and British Steel steelworks in Scunthorpe. In 2023, the steel industry used 1,625,00 tonnes of coal, a significant reduction from 2015 (5.2 million tonnes). This forms a significant source of UK greenhouse gas emissions. The UK needs to decarbonise the steel sector to meet its net-zero target. In 2023, the UK Government reached an agreement with TATA steelworks to subsidise up to £500m of its transition costs to electric arc furnaces which will recycle scrap steel instead or producing primary steel. A seperate deal was also struck with British Steel for its Scunthorpe steelworks to also transition to electric arc furnnaces. Both deals are subject to the agreement of the new Labour Government. Electric arc furnace technology uses little or no coal, so emissions are much lower.
Significant emissions result from coal combustion include:
The Global Energy Monitor estimates 7.2 billion tonnes of coal are mined each year, from 3,670 recorded coal mines across 70 countries. Coal mining worldwide emits around 52 million tonnes of methane per year.... read more
