Close Menu
  • Featured
    • News
    • Consumption
    • Environment
    • Industry
    • Opinion
    • Policy
    • Production
    • Storage
    • Transmission
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Trending
Illustration of China's massive laser fusion laboratory in Mianyang, generated by artificial intelligence.
“They’re Building the World’s Biggest Fusion Laser”: U.S. Satellite Reveals China’s Secret Race Toward Unlimited Energy Domination
Illustration of the U.S. military's groundbreaking wireless energy transmission experiment, created by artificial intelligence.
“They Just Beamed Power Through the Air Like Sci-Fi”: U.S. Military Destroys Wireless Energy Transmission Record With Shocking Test
Illustration of China's colossal nuclear fusion center under construction, surpassing the size of the U.S.'s National Ignition Facility, created by artificial intelligence.
“It’s Bigger Than Anything We Imagined”: China’s Secret Nuclear Fusion Facility Spotted From Space Sparks Global Alarm
Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube TikTok
Energy Reporters
Facebook X (Twitter) RSS
Subscribe
  • Featured
  • News
    Illustration of China's massive laser fusion laboratory in Mianyang, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They’re Building the World’s Biggest Fusion Laser”: U.S. Satellite Reveals China’s Secret Race Toward Unlimited Energy Domination

    July 19, 2025 at 10:10 AM
    Illustration of China's colossal nuclear fusion center under construction, surpassing the size of the U.S.'s National Ignition Facility, created by artificial intelligence.

    “It’s Bigger Than Anything We Imagined”: China’s Secret Nuclear Fusion Facility Spotted From Space Sparks Global Alarm

    July 19, 2025 at 8:12 AM
    Illustration of nuclear-powered spacecraft propelled by solar sails in space, generated by artificial intelligence.

    Blasting Into Space With Nukes and Light: This Radical Propulsion Concept Could Redefine Deep Space Travel Faster Than Anything Before

    July 18, 2025 at 3:54 PM
    Illustration of Nexus, an advanced AI-powered supercomputer developed by Georgia Tech.

    “We Gave AI $20 Million to Rethink Science”: Nexus Super-System Set to Turbocharge US Innovation Like Never Before

    July 18, 2025 at 9:06 AM
    Illustration of Apple's collaboration with MP Materials to enhance rare earth material supply chains, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “We’re Cutting China Out”: Apple Strikes $500M Deal to Break Free from Chinese Rare Earths and Reinvent Its Global Supply Chain

    July 18, 2025 at 8:14 AM
  • Use
    Illustration of the contrasting lifespans of gas and electric vehicles in the evolving automotive industry, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “These Numbers Will Shock Every Driver”: Landmark Study Reveals Gas Cars Last 12 Years While Electric Vehicles Average Just 3, Sending Shockwaves Through the Industryers”: Disturbing Study Reveals Gas Cars Last 12 Years, Electric Only 3

    July 12, 2025 at 10:06 AM

    Trump’s Energy Policy: A Complicated Road Ahead

    December 24, 2024 at 3:28 PM

    World’s First Grid-Scale Nuclear Fusion Plant to Be Built in Virginia

    December 23, 2024 at 2:57 PM

    How West Africa can expand power supply and meet climate goals

    June 15, 2020 at 6:33 AM

    Saudi Aramco shares tumble amid price war 

    March 10, 2020 at 1:18 AM
  • Climate
    Illustration of the world's largest high-altitude wind farm in Tibet, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They Built It on the Roof of the World”: World’s Highest-Altitude Wind Farm Just Launched in Tibet With Record-Breaking Power

    July 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
    Illustration of space-based reflectors redirecting solar light to Earth during nighttime, generated by artificial intelligence.

    Space Mirrors Are Coming: This Bold Solar Energy Project Aims to Beam Sunlight From Orbit Straight Into Photovoltaic Farms

    July 18, 2025 at 5:12 PM
    Illustration of the wake effect impacting offshore wind turbines, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They’re Losing Wind—and Millions”: The Devastating Wake Effect Threatening Offshore Wind Farms and the Race to Stop It

    July 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM
    Illustration of a cooling ceiling system using chilled water tubes to regulate indoor temperatures, generated by artificial intelligence.

    No More AC, No More Fans: This Revolutionary Home Cooling Method Is Taking Over and Saving Households a Fortune in Energy

    July 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM
    Illustration of natural hydrogen exploration in Siberia, generated by artificial intelligence.

    A Hidden Ocean of Hydrogen Found in Siberia Could Fuel the Planet for Generations and Disrupt the Entire Fossil Fuel Economy

    July 17, 2025 at 3:51 PM
  • Industry
    Illustration of the partnership between Westinghouse and Google Cloud using AI to advance nuclear construction, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They’re Letting AI Build Nuclear Reactors”: Google and Westinghouse Unleash Machine-Driven Power That Could Reshape the Planet

    July 19, 2025 at 6:08 AM
    Illustration of a groundbreaking hybrid alloy for quantum chips, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “We Engineered the Impossible”: German Scientists Create World’s First Hybrid Alloy to Power the Next Generation of Quantum Chips

    July 18, 2025 at 7:02 AM
    Illustration of the Lamborghini Temerario GT3, a high-performance race car designed for GT3 racing, showcasing its advanced engineering and aerodynamic features; this is an artificial illustration.

    “They Turned a Supercar Into a Missile”: Lamborghini’s New Temerario GT3 Unleashes Brutal Power and Racing Precision for 2026 Debut

    July 15, 2025 at 10:08 AM
    Illustration of the Zeekr 9X hybrid crossover showcasing its innovative design and advanced technology, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They Laughed at Chinese Cars—Not Anymore”: New Hybrid EV Hits 621-Mile Range and 0–60 in 3.1 Seconds

    July 15, 2025 at 9:04 AM
    Illustration of the advanced 3D printing system developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and JuggerBot 3D to integrate thermoset and thermoplastic materials, created by artificial intelligence.

    “They Just Cracked the Code for Supersonic Manufacturing”: U.S. Lab Unveils Dual-Material 3D Printing to Reinvent Flight and Power

    July 15, 2025 at 6:54 AM
  • Opinion

    Pulling back the curtain on Turkey’s natural gas strategy

    September 1, 2020 at 5:59 AM

    How West Africa can expand power supply and meet climate goals

    June 15, 2020 at 6:33 AM

    Review: Oil and the Great Powers: Britain and Germany, 1914 to 1945

    June 9, 2020 at 5:40 AM

    Eastern Mediterranean gas: testing the field

    May 27, 2020 at 5:18 AM

    Energy geopolitics will hinge on the nationalism-globalism swinging door

    May 5, 2020 at 1:37 AM
  • Policy

    Trump’s Global Influence Wanes Amid Rising Foreign Policy Setbacks

    May 31, 2025 at 5:48 PM

    Glaciers in Crisis: Nearly 40% of Global Ice Mass is Already Lost

    May 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM

    iPhone Prices May Triple if Made in the U.S., Analyst Warns

    May 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM

    Labubu Craze: The Cute, Creepy Plush Toy Taking Over the World

    May 17, 2025 at 8:40 AM

    RFK Jr’s Vaccine Views Clash with Measles Outbreak Reality

    April 12, 2025 at 10:49 AM
  • Output
    Illustration of China producing its first barrel of natural uranium from the 'National No 1 Uranium' project in Inner Mongolia, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “Unleashing a Uranium Giant”: China Triumphantly Extracts First 55-Gallon Barrel from This Massive Natural Uranium Project, Sparking Global Ripples

    July 15, 2025 at 8:02 AM
    Illustration of the world’s first integrated hydrogen production simulator within a Small Modular Reactor control room, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “The Future Is Here, and It’s Terrifying”: World’s First Hydrogen-Generating Nuclear Reactor Launches in the US, Sparking Global Energy Revolution

    July 9, 2025 at 7:01 AM

    Billionaire Backlash Grows Against Trump’s Aggressive Tariff Plans

    May 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM

    McDonald’s Sees Worst Sales Since 2020 Amid Uncertainty

    May 1, 2025 at 8:23 AM

    Europe’s Economic Rebound Stalls as U.S. Tariffs Cast a Shadow

    April 30, 2025 at 5:34 PM
  • Storage
    Illustration of a revolutionary lithium metal battery equipped with a built-in flame suppressant, highlighting its enhanced safety and efficiency, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “It Puts Out Its Own Fires”: Breakthrough Lithium Battery Unleashed With Built-In Safety System That Could End Explosive Failures Forever

    July 19, 2025 at 6:57 AM
    Illustration of Finland's largest sand battery for renewable energy storage, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They’re Storing Energy in Sand!”: Finland Unveils World’s Largest Sand Battery in a Bold Move to Revolutionize Clean Power Storage

    July 16, 2025 at 4:59 PM
    Illustration of researchers at the University of Alberta developing advanced water-based batteries.

    “They Replaced Lithium with Water!”: Scientists Unveil Battery Breakthrough That’s Safer, Cheaper, and Ready to Transform Energy Storage

    July 16, 2025 at 5:48 AM
    Illustration of a predictive model accurately forecasting lithium metal anode failures in battery technology, created by artificial intelligence.

    China Unveils Groundbreaking Lithium Battery Tech That Flags Deadly Failures Seconds Before the Battery Fully Activates

    July 14, 2025 at 7:50 AM
    Illustration of the internal chemistry of battery materials affecting energy flow, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “These Hidden Hot Spots Hold the Key”: Scientists Uncover Secret Zones to Build Ultra-Durable EV Batteries, Triggering a Breakthrough in Car Longevity

    July 12, 2025 at 8:10 AM
  • Grid
    Illustration of the U.S. military's groundbreaking wireless energy transmission experiment, created by artificial intelligence.

    “They Just Beamed Power Through the Air Like Sci-Fi”: U.S. Military Destroys Wireless Energy Transmission Record With Shocking Test

    July 19, 2025 at 8:52 AM
    Illustration of DARPA's wireless power transmission experiment, beaming energy over 5.3 miles.

    “They Just Beamed Power Over 5 Miles to Make Popcorn”: DARPA’s Wireless Energy Breakthrough Redefines What’s Technically Possible

    July 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
    Illustration of a revolutionary laser amplifier technology designed to increase data transmission speeds, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “They Just Unlocked Super Lasers!”: Breakthrough Amplifier Could Make the Internet 10× Faster and Launch a New Era of Light-Speed Data

    July 16, 2025 at 7:10 AM
    Illustration of a TGV train equipped with satellite internet technology, generated by artificial intelligence.

    “Elon Musk Promises to End France’s TGV Wi-Fi Nightmare”: Starlink Solution Set to Transform Train Travel With Blazing Internet Speeds

    July 10, 2025 at 8:53 AM

    Australian grid struggles with renewables boom: report

    February 24, 2020 at 5:32 AM
Energy Reporters

Will Europe really quit coal?

Rosemary PotterRosemary PotterMarch 19, 2019 at 5:25 AM1
Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Telegram WhatsApp Email Copy Link
Follow Us
Google News
Share
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Copy Link

Within the last two years, governments across Europe have pledged to rid their power sectors of coal. In January 2018, Britain announced it would phase out coal entirely by 2025. Not to be outdone, the French government announced in November 2018 a similar intent by 2022. Italy pledged to quit coal by 2022 one year earlier than France, in November 2017. Seemingly compelled to not look too bad, Germany proclaimed in January 2019 that it would do so by 2038.

Nothing like a little competition to catalyze governments to rein in the dirtiest monarch in the energy kingdom. There can be no question that cutting coal is the most consequential way we can fight climate change and its effects.

But are these pledges realistic and, more importantly, will they actually be implemented? Such climate-related promises, as we have seen time and time again, are easy for politicians to utter but just as easy to desert when economic pressures accumulate. Nevertheless, there are fundamental reasons, both historical and contemporary and unrelated to climate, to believe that this time will indeed be different in Western European countries pledging to quit coal.

Closing time

The most economic reason for Europeans to quit coal is that they can no longer produce it domestically.

It is easy to forget, but Europe has historically produced more coal than any other continent, by far. From 1900 to 1990, Europe produced 34,663 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of coal. The runner-up during that same period was North America at 30,917 Mtoe. During the nineteenth century, Britain far surpassed every other nation in coal production, followed by France, Germany and Belgium as well as a surging United States after the 1880s.

It is a different story from 1991 to 2014. Asia and Oceania have produced a staggering 36,082 Mtoe of coal, more than making up for their “lost” decades. North America produced 13,238 Mtoe and Europe a mere 5,186 Mtoe.

Annual Coal Production by Region, 1900-2014

Source: The Shift Project Data Portal.

What the graph and figures tell us is that Europe’s domestic coal production is spent, which means that, if Europe wanted to burn coal, it would have to import it. As much as fighting climate change is a popular political stance, the simple calculus of avoiding energy imports tells us that Europe, as a region, should leave it behind.

This is straightforward when they no longer produce it. Mine closures in major European countries support this view. France closed its last coal mine in 2004; Britain in 2015; and Germany and Spain in 2018.

Spent labor

The closure of mines means that there is no longer a critical mass of people working in the coal industry, whose votes and power to demonstrate in the street matter in a democracy. Marx and Engels recognized the connection between the coal industry, democracy and capitalism in the nineteenth century.

During the twentieth century, coal mining was a battleground on which labor won greater concessions from capital. Now, labor simply no longer has the political power that it did during coal’s halcyon years.

Coal, it must be remembered, was the dominant energy source until the 1970s, a run that lasted well over 150 years, before oil eclipsed it. And, despite oil’s rise, coal remains a mainstay. In 2017, oil accounted for 34% of world energy consumption, coal 28%, and natural gas 23%. It isn’t going away.

Coal’s steady decline in Britain, France and Germany in the second half of the twentieth century closely mirrored the decline in labor’s political power. British labor strikes of the 1980s were, in retrospect, the last pangs of a dying national industry.

New Europe

The two most compelling reasons for certain European governments to “leave” coal are, therefore, its lack of availability, which leads to import dependency, and the declining power of labor movements on the continent. This is especially relevant for Western Europe – Britain, France, Spain, and Italy – and northern Europe – Norway, Sweden and Finland. The latter has already mostly left coal, and the former will do so. We can take that to the climate bank.

But there are some very important outliers: Germany, Poland and countries in eastern Europe. Germany’s mines may be long gone, along with its coal-driven labor movement, but its grand strategy depends on manufacturing-driven exports that demand cheap power supplies. This is why Berlin is forging ahead with Nord Stream II despite continent-wide opposition, and why its target for leaving coal is set for a comparatively distant 2038. It is also why its coal imports have risen in recent years. If Germany can switch to gas, it can meet its goal to quit coal, but Berlin’s more likely future is continued reliance on Russian and American coal imports.

Poland is also inherently problematic because it has both a robust coal industry and the accompanying pressure to keep coal mining jobs. It does not, like Germany, portend to rely on coal imports and is unsurprisingly forging ahead with building new coal-fired power plants, including its largest-ever. Other Eastern European countries that produce coal will follow suit in order to pursue energy security and support their domestic economies.

Cleaner than coal

Countries, European or otherwise, that can produce coal domestically will continue to look to it for the coming decades. China, for instance, despite having reached its peak of coal consumption in 2013 and having real concerns about pollution, fits this paradigm. Its domestic reserves assure that coal will remain a major part of its energy mix for decades. In 2017, Chinese coal production rose 2.1%.

The United States is the exception that proves the rule. Like in Britain, coal production in America has declined steadily, but it received a boost in the 1970s as an alternative to high-priced oil. This second boom peaked in 2009, not because of a decline in coal supplies but due to the U.S. shale revolution, which made gas cheaper than coal. Trump may champion coal miners, but markets want gas. No doubt the United States would have produced a lot more coal in the last ten years without the shale revolution.

Announcing that we will quit coal is not enough. We must champion carbon capture or some other new technology that removes greenhouse gas emissions from the air, or put a price on carbon. There are other solutions as well, and we must adopt a multifaceted approach.

What we cannot do is hope that renewables and goodwill on climate change will convince countries with coal supplies to stop producing them. The largest economies of Europe are quitting coal out of necessity.

Did you like it? 4.7/5 (24)

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

coal coal mines Europe labor
Follow on Google News Follow on X (Twitter)
Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram WhatsApp Email Copy Link
Previous ArticleGazprom: China pipeline to be ready three months early
Next Article Novak promises Russian compliance with Opec+ cuts
Rosemary Potter
  • X (Twitter)

Rosemary Potter is a Berlin-based journalist for Energy Reporters, covering European energy markets, cross-border policy, industry innovation, and the challenges of energy transition. A graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, she combines investigative depth with a continental outlook. Her reporting amplifies the perspectives shaping Europe’s energy future across sectors, borders, and technologies. Contact: [email protected]

Keep Reading
Illustration of the contrasting lifespans of gas and electric vehicles in the evolving automotive industry, generated by artificial intelligence.

“These Numbers Will Shock Every Driver”: Landmark Study Reveals Gas Cars Last 12 Years While Electric Vehicles Average Just 3, Sending Shockwaves Through the Industryers”: Disturbing Study Reveals Gas Cars Last 12 Years, Electric Only 3

Trump’s Energy Policy: A Complicated Road Ahead

World’s First Grid-Scale Nuclear Fusion Plant to Be Built in Virginia

View 1 Comment
1 Comment
  1. Pingback: Europe is Entering its Golden Age of Gas | Energy News Corporation

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Trending
Illustration of China's massive laser fusion laboratory in Mianyang, generated by artificial intelligence.
“They’re Building the World’s Biggest Fusion Laser”: U.S. Satellite Reveals China’s Secret Race Toward Unlimited Energy Domination
Illustration of the U.S. military's groundbreaking wireless energy transmission experiment, created by artificial intelligence.
“They Just Beamed Power Through the Air Like Sci-Fi”: U.S. Military Destroys Wireless Energy Transmission Record With Shocking Test
Illustration of China's colossal nuclear fusion center under construction, surpassing the size of the U.S.'s National Ignition Facility, created by artificial intelligence.
“It’s Bigger Than Anything We Imagined”: China’s Secret Nuclear Fusion Facility Spotted From Space Sparks Global Alarm
News by category
  • Featured
  • News
  • Use
  • Climate
  • Industry
  • Opinion
  • Policy
  • Output
  • Storage
  • Grid
Information
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Meet the Team
  • Contact Us
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Facebook X (Twitter) RSS
© Energy-Reporters.com. All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.