Europe and coal

Overview
According to a November 2012 working paper released by the World Resources Institute, there are 69 proposed coal plants totalling 65,421 MW in Europe (excluding Russia). The paper estimated that an additional 26,000 to 48,000 MW of coal-fired electrical generating capacity will also be added in Russia by 2030, but did not list project names or locations.

Table 1 (sortable): Proposed coal plants in Europe (excluding Russia)
The following table provides a preliminary list of proposed coal plants in Europe (excluding Russia). Most locations are from the CARMA database. In cases where locations were not available from CARMA, latitude and longitude were derived by locating the nearest village, town, or city to the plant, using iTouchMap.com. Names are derived from the appendices provided in WRI's "Global Coal Risk Assessment" working paper.

Table columns may be sorted by clicking on the header.

A declining role for coal in power generation
In 2012, it was reported that coal's share of generation in Europe had declined from 39.4 percent to 25.7 percent over the past 20 years. Of the 120 coal fired power plants proposed in Europe in 2007, none have been brought to the construction stage.

Schwarzenegger clause
In October 2008, the European Parliament's Environment Committee voted to support a limit on CO2 emissions for all new coal plants built in the EU after 2015. The so-called "Schwarzenegger clause" applies to all plants with a capacity over 300MW, and limits their annual CO2 emissions to a maximum of 500 grammes per kilowatt hour. The new emissions standard essentially rules out traditional coal plant technologies and mandates the use of Carbon Capture and Storage technologies. The Committee also adopted an amendment to support the financing of 12 large-scale commercial CCS demonstration projects, at a cost that could exceed €10 billion.

Health costs of coal
The 2013 Greenpeace report, "Silent Killers: Why Europe must replace coal power with green energy," concluded that air pollution from Europe's 300 largest coal power stations causes 22,300 premature deaths a year and costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days.

A 2013 report by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) found that burning coal to produce electricity costs Europeans €42.8 billion (US $55 billion) in health care costs annually. About €8 billion of that is Poland, a heavy coal user. The new report is based on a calculation of the costs associated with premature deaths resulting from exposure to coal-related air pollution, medical visits, hospitalizations, medication and reduced activity, including working days lost.

Estimated cost of air pollution in Europe
A 2011 analysis by the European environment agency (EEA), 'Revealing the costs of air pollution from industrial facilities in Europe,' estimates that air pollution from industry costs Britain £3.4bn-£9.5bn a year in health and environmental damage. When CO2 costs are included, the figure rises to £9.5bn-£15.5bn. The industrial facilities covered by the analysis include large power plants, refineries, manufacturing combustion and industrial processes, waste and certain agricultural activities. Emissions from power plants contributed the largest share of the damage costs (estimated at €66–112 billion). Other significant contributions to the overall damage costs came from production processes (€23–28 billion) and manufacturing combustion (€8–21 billion). Sectors excluded from the EEA analysis include transport, households and most agicultural activities – if these were included the cost of pollution would be even higher.

A small number of individual facilities cause the majority of damage costs. Three quarters of the total damage costs were caused by the emissions from just 622 industrial facilities – 6 % of the total number. The facilities with emissions associated with a high damage cost are in most cases some of the largest facilities in Europe which release the greatest amount of pollutants. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions contribute the most to the overall damage costs, approximately €63 billion in 2009. Other air pollutants, which contribute to acid rain and can cause respiratory problems - sulphur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3), particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) - were found to cause €38-105 billion of damage a year.

European Commission proposes ending state subsidies for loss-making coal mines in the EU
On July 21, 2010, the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, ruled that member governments of EU member states must stop granting subsidies to loss-making coal mines by the end of 2014. The directive will be implemented in January 2011, pending a European Council vote after the summer. The new rules – if implemented – will only allow governments to give operating aid to loss-making coal mines if closure plans are in place and if they are scheduled to be shut down by 2014 at the latest. The EC also suggests that government subsidies should increasingly go towards supporting the social and environmental costs of such closures, and not on other expenditures. If a mine benefits from government subsidies and doesn't close down by 2014, then it will have to return the funds.

In total, European governments paid out 3.2 billion euro in subsidies to coal in 2008, according to the Financial Times. The industry is responsible for 2.5 percent of world hard coal production. The announcement was welcomed by European environmental groups, who have lobbied hard over the past few months to thwart a draft document circulated earlier this summer that suggested continuing subsidies until 2023.

While the Commission's decision was hailed as a victory, environmentalists are still disappointed in the recent G-20 conference in Toronto, at which nations restated old pledges to curb subsidies for fossil fuels instead of offering new targets or commitments. In total, G-20 nations still hand out subsidies worth about $100 billion annually to the fossil fuel industry, according to a Greenpeace report cited by Nytimes.com.

Spain and open cast mining
In 2011 the 15M movement - originating in Madrid after a major demonstration against Spain’s economic crisis - moved away from the city and set up a camp to oppose open pit coal mining as part of its 'Take the mountain!' initiative. Hundreds of people camped to oppose mining in the Laciana valley in the Spanish north-eastern province of Leon, home to endangered species such as the brown bear.

Thousands of coal miners protest in Spain
In early July 2012, thousands of Spanish coal miners marched through Madrid's main avenue to protest a cut in government subsidies by 63% that they say will eliminate their industry. Police fired rubber bullets and protesters threw firecrackers during the contentious protests. The Industry Ministry stated the cuts were necessary to help tackle the country's growing deficit.

Health effects
A 2013 Lancet study estimated that increase in exposure to particulate matter pollution increases the risk of death more than twice as much as assumed by the European Environmental Agency (14% increase in risk vs 6% for 10 ug/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentrations). The study also found that PM2.5 levels well below the European safety standard of 25 ug/m3 increase risk of death.

The 2013 Greenpeace report, "Silent Killers: Why Europe must replace coal power with green energy," concluded that air pollution from Europe's 300 largest coal power stations causes 22,300 premature deaths a year and costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days.

Coal plants

 * Emily Rochon, "Coal-fired Power Stations and the European Union", Greenpeace International, November 29, 2007. (This report is a 1MB PDF file).

Europe and coal

 * Austria and coal
 * Belgium and coal
 * Bulgaria and coal
 * France and coal
 * Germany and coal
 * Greece and coal
 * Hungary and coal
 * Italy and coal
 * Netherlands and coal
 * Norway and coal
 * Poland and coal
 * Romania and coal
 * Slovakia and coal
 * United Kingdom and coal

Other Countries and Coal

 * Global use and production of coal
 * Australia and coal
 * China and Coal
 * Colombia and coal
 * Indonesia and coal
 * Japan and coal
 * New Zealand and coal
 * South Africa and coal
 * United States and coal

Background information

 * International Energy Agency, "Coal in European Union - 27 in 2005", International Energy Agency website, accessed June 2008.
 * U.S. Geological Survey, Europe and Central Eurasia 1995-2005
 * U.S. Geological Survey, Germany 1994-2005
 * European Environment Agency, European Pollutant Emission Register. (This has a list of power stations and their current emissions).

Articles on Coal in Europe

 * "Coal-fired power station projects in Europe", Reuters, May 14, 2007.
 * Matthew Lockwood, After the Coal Rush: Assessing policy options for coal-fired electricity generation, Institute for Public Policy Research, July 2008. (Pdf). See also "ippr calls for UK to lead a two year Europe-wide freeze on new coal-fired power stations", Institute for Public Policy Research, Media Release, July 2, 2008.
 * "Coal-fired power generation makes a comeback as gas prices soar", Platts, January 17, 2006.
 * "Progress tracker for German power plant projects", Reuters, May 16, 2008.