Mining at Ffos-Y-Fran in South Wales is under severe threat from a planning decision that will force the mine to cease production.
Ffos-Y-Fran is the only UK mine producing. high-quality, low-emission ‘steam coal’ that a number of British industries depend upon, including around 150 heritage railways.
Although almost all electricity generation in the UK now comes from other sources, manufacturing everything from steel to cosmetics still requires coal.
According to the Heritage Railway Association, the decision to stop production at Ffos-Y-Fran will almost certainly increase pollution, because those industries that have no viable alternative to coal will be forced to import coal from thousands of miles away.
The move to cease mining at Ffos-Y-Fran coincides with global shipping routes being disrupted by the war in Ukraine, leading to further volatility in the availability of high-quality coal.
British coal users are being forced to import coal from as far as Columbia, with a resultant increase in emissions caused by transporting coal over thousands of miles by sea.
The decision also poses a renewed threat to the continued existence of Britain’s world-leading heritage rail sector, which draws visitors from around the world and generates more than £600m for the economy each year, as well as directly supporting around 4,000 jobs.
The continued operation of icons such as the Flying Scotsman will also be put at risk.
The cost pressures common in the visitor economy are also hitting heritage railways, but the cumulative impact of having to import coal could prove too much for some in this sector, which is almost exclusively not-for-profit.
Aside from the environmental considerations surrounding importing coal over huge distances, there are also concerns about supply security. 18 months ago the Ffos-Y-Fran mine temporarily closed because of equipment failure, forcing heritage railways to drastically reduce their services, with other sectors facing similar challenges.
In total, Britain’s heritage railways use around 30,000 tonnes of coal a year, which is equivalent to what a single coal-fired power station would have used in a week.
Although alternative fuels for heritage steam locomotives are being researched and developed, at the moment, there are none that can completely replace coal.
In an effort to stress the importance of good quality, low-emission steam coal like that mined at Ffos-Y-Fran to the future of heritage rail, the Heritage Railway Association has actively engaged with a number of stakeholders to broaden understanding of the issues. It has also visited Ffos-Y-Fran and has met with local politicians on a number of occasions to discuss the situation.
Heritage Railway Association Chief Executive, Steve Oates, said: “On the face of it, I’m sure many people do believe that ending coal mining at Ffos-Y-Fran is good for the environment. But the reality is that overall emissions are almost certainly going to increase as a result of the closure.
“There’s still a belief in this country that coal is inextricably linked to power stations. That’s not the case anymore. Coal in the UK is chiefly used by a relatively small but important number of sectors and the volumes involved are pretty small – but the impact of having to import from thousands of miles away is huge.
“Most of those sectors still do not have a viable alternative to coal that they can turn to right now – no matter how much research might be going into an eventual solution.
“We think that this is a very short-sighted decision, which is likely to have dire longer-term consequences. We await a decision from the mine owners as to whether they will appeal or take the issue to the Welsh Government.
“We know that many in the Welsh Government understand just how pivotal supply of coal is to the heritage rail sector.
“Wales was the birthplace of railway preservation and has an unparalleled heritage rail visitor offer that helps people the world over appreciate stunning scenery without dependency upon the private car. The same is true in places like Pickering, Swanage and Bridgnorth too.
“I hope that the strategic value of this mine will mean the bigger picture can be properly considered before it’s too late.”
Responses
Airplanes pollute more than steamies.
What kind of hypocrisy from the…”green” leaders around the WORLD is THIS!?
Just looked at Bio-Coal and it’s made using the same processes that happen naturally over millions of years but they still have a carbon content so still produce CO2 when burnt, so are not really green as that and give off around 70% of that produced by an equivalent amount of coal.
Shock Horror, we won’t be able to run steam trains anymore. The coal industry was in decline long before the Thatcher-Scargill battle, as the UK moved away from heavy industry and moved to cleaner energy production, but there still is a real need for coal in industry i.e. you can’t make steel without a source of carbon i.e. coal.
You need steel to make things to go green, use plastics nope that still hydrocarbons, we are a carbon consuming planet, and no matter how carbon neutral we try to be we will never get to Net Zero, the UK Government own electrical production figures show that 77% of electricity production results in CO2.
So we can’t use coal in our steam engines, they can burn thing like wood (I.e. like Drax power station), without too much change or we could even use LPG to boil the water, but that still makes CO2, now put up overhead lines and let the steam engines us it to boil the water in the boilers just like a kettle does, but that still causes 77% CO2 production.
There are other alternatives, besides hoping for a viable artificial coal.The chief one is that steam engines can , in some cases, be converted to run on oil.This not like diesel engines\trains but by using oil burners to heat he boiler ( and, therefore the water to produce steam).This as done in he 1930 and at other times but, again, the cost is hugely expensive to convert a steam engine to oil burners.Do not know what the oil costs but that won’t be cheap. What will be the cost to environment now all those people going to Eurovision,Cup Final and Derby now they are forced to go by road.Many of us are concerned about environmental issues but it is time we have concensus rather than confrontation to find best solutions.
IMO the heritage sector, in the long run (ie decades), will have to stop burning stuff in order to operate the engines, the only question is when they will come up with this alternative system…
It appears we have all kinds protestors, who on the face of it , want cancel anything they do agree with, even though they are in the minority.They have messed up the snooker, the Grand National and now the rail unions are messing up The Cup Final, The Derby and Eurovision.Like heritage railways, these are things/ events which give millions of people pleasure.Covid caused lots of misery and now these mean spirited people want to spread more.
If the mine more of less closes, Surely a tiny part could be kept to supply the heritage railways until an alternative artificial coal could be perfected.
If you are talking about pollution then read up about planes, now that’s pollution AND everyone is oblivious to it! Kerosene isn’t taxed either.
As Chris P called them, eco idiots, and people in both the Welsh and UK Govts would rather see all coal mining stopped in the UK.
Those people are not bothered and don’t care about the heritage sector closing down.
So people building new steam engines might as well give up as they will Never be seen running anywhere.
Exactly the same for the Big Railway, where diesel is now seen as a fuel to eliminate. Again ceasing use on the main line will have a minute impact on overall saving.
Saving of what, precisely? The 2021 IPCC report was completely clear and utterly unambiguous on the pressing need for action to mitigate anthropogenic damage to the planetary climate, but the effects on human health of exhaust hydrocarbon particulates in general and those of combustion of diesel in particular were known by the 1930s.
When casting about for where to apportion blame for having now run out of leeway for further prevarication, some consideration has to be given to years of mealy-mouthed responses and outright denial to the mountain of incontrovertible evidence, wantonly ignored since the 1950s.
You ought to be aware that, remembering steam on the big railway, I’m way, way older than ‘GenX’, never mind ‘the millenial generation’ and I say to you in all earnestness, we of the more senior generations have had our go …. and (like it or lump it) our self-evident track record for meaningless gestures and inaction means it’s another generation’s go on the potty.
Claiming the Ffosyfran coal is ‘low emission ‘ is entirely false. The coal from this open cast mine is exceptionally high in sulphur, so much so that their former customers had gread difficulty in coping with the pollution resulting from using this coal. There may be other sources of better steam coal available in the UK, but is it worth the damage it does to extract it?
A sort of mass hysteria seems to have gripped a certain proportion of the population about “demon coal” and “climate catastrophe”. Rational arguments such as those set out in this article just don’t get through to these eco-zeolots who just equate ANY coal usage with climate catastrophe. It’s all the more absurd because anything Britain does (right up to shutting down ALL our industry) will make no significant difference to world coal burning which is on the increase in China, India and elsewhere.
Exactly right Chris phillips , numptys and amatures getting off on saving the world , with pathetic, decisions to make them , look important, pathetic,
Do you have a problem with savin the world?
To me Donald, it sounds like you are against the Heritage Sector trying to run a business, wether it is steam or diesel.
It is not just what you and I try to do. It is the stupid Govts and some World leaders who don’t care what they do.
There is nothing to “save the world” from, here, so no, there is no problem.
Destroying preserved railway will save the world then will it ?Their carbon output is minimal.Do you know one prerved railway has an orchard, allotment and makes lineside fencing hedgerows ( Cambrian Railway Preservation Society).Many preserved railway recycle all sorts of things and ( most importantly) give meaning and pleasure to thousands of people.