Summary of information on coal for land-use planning purposes

The UK has had a long history of coal production and coal was the UK’s most important primary fuel until 1971, when it was overtaken by petroleum. Although the importance of coal as an energy source has declined, it continues to provide around 17 per cent of the nation’s primary energy consumption and about one third of its electricity. In 2003 the UK became a net importer of coal and in 2005, of a total demand for coal of about 63 Mt, only 20 Mt was produced domestically. In the same year production of coal by surface mining exceeded deep-mine production for the first time. There will be a continuing market for coal in the medium term as part of a balanced and varied UK energy supply. The operators of almost 75 per cent of UK coal-fired electricity generating capacity have opted to fit flue gas desulphurisation equipment to enable their power stations to operate to at least 2015 in compliance with the EU Revised Large Combustion Plants Directive. In addition, several operators have announced their interest in building new and more efficient coal-fired plant. However, the extent that indigenous coal will continue to contribute to UK supply will depend on the competitiveness of deep-mined coal relative to imported coal and the extent that new deep mine and opencast reserves can be accessed. The recent significant decline in opencast coal production in England reflects the fact that new permissions have failed to replenish the reserves being worked. The report brings together data on coal production, trade, consumption and uses, and provides information on licensing and reserves. It also summarises information on opencast coal sites granted and refused planning permissions and recommends that a system of safeguarding shallow coal resources be put in place. Coal exploitation by methods other than conventional deep and shallow mining are also summarised.