That’s the opinion of Bill Ireland, CEO of Edinburgh-based hydrogen technologies expert Logan Energy.

He said, “It’s been proven that hydrogen is a key enabler for decarbonising all UK industry sectors – especially ‘hard to treat’ areas such as process heat used for steel production which relies on coking coal. We know that the iron and steel industry is responsible for about 4% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in Europe, and 9% worldwide.

“As such, coking coal has rightly been widely rejected by most UK steel manufacturers who are increasingly adopting green methods such as electric arc furnaces and renewable energy sources like green hydrogen.

“The UK must consider very carefully the full implications of this decision – which will restrict wider hydrogen and renewable energy growth across commercially viable markets if left unchecked. Only with clear, stable and long-term energy policy will we be able to stimulate demand for sustainable energy sources and deliver a successful energy transition.”

Molly Scott Cato, former Green MEP and now Professor of Economics at the University of Roehampton, believes the Government has failed on their climate change commitment and that there must be a renewed focus on utilising UK renewable energy resources.

She said, “If the government was taking the climate crisis seriously, the answer to the question on whether to give permission for a new coal mine in West Cumbria is clear: ‘No’. It’s clear that the UK government has cynically delayed the decision on the new coal-mine until the end of the UK’s COP presidency, which finished just a fortnight ago.

“COP President Alok Sharma was right to warn that the UK’s ‘hard-won international reputation’ over the climate emergency would be undermined by a decision to allow investment in further damaging coal extraction.”

The government argues the coal would go to the UK steel industry, however that directly contradicts the industry’s decision to move towards green steel – steel produced without the use of coal, she added.

“Only 15% of the coal at Whitehaven is destined for the UK market, while the rest would be exported, further encouraging other countries to expand their use of the most polluting form of energy,” said Cato.

“The UK already has extraordinary renewable energy resources including onshore and offshore wind, solar and marine and tidal resources and the people of West Cumbria would benefit more from green jobs in those sectors.

“The Government should be seeking to become a global leader in the technologies of the future green economy rather than continuing to rely on the dirty and climate-destroying industries of the past.”

Coal project at centre of competing policy interests

The West Cumbria Mining (WCM) online updates stretch to eight pages – illustrating the protracted challenges getting the controversial project over the line during the last eight years.

It’s turned into one enormous policy football between Westminster and Cumbria, bedevilled by competing interests.

Two years ago, the UK Government unveiled a 10-point plan for a ‘green industrial revolution‘ which would support green jobs and accelerate the path to Net Zero; however it has also been keen to increase investment in northern communities as part of its ‘levelling up’ agenda.

Now the economic arguments have won, environmental ones still persist, as they did in 2014; notably the impact of combustion from the Whitehaven mine, which could lead to 8.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year during the main production phase.

WCM is confident the project can now move forwards to deliver ‘the world’s first Net Zero mine’ supplying the critical steel industry with a high-quality metallurgical coal product. But for that to be achieved will involve implementing largely unproven technologies.

The BEIS Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy of March 2021 ‘does not rule out the use of coking coal in an integrated steel making process together with CCUS as a net zero compliant option going forward … any mining of the coal itself need[s] to be net zero compliant in the future’.

Despite the government approval, there are ongoing challenges with coking coal market demand and environmental impacts.