Is it time to reopen the coal mines?

[joe-90]

The price of coal has doubled in the past 12 months. It's a resource we've got a fair bit of. It's the closest of the fuels to oil for chemicals etc. If we are going to do it - then let's do it now. China get 80% of their energy from coal so the bit of pollution we make would be inconsequential. At least it would give us time to go nuclear in the future. It's a known technology and unlike wind farms - it actually works.

 

[megawatt]

You only want us to start using it so you can tell us all how little there is of it and how expensive it's going to become

MW

 

[D_Hailsham]

You only want us to start using it so you can tell us all how little there is of it and how expensive it's going to become

Rubbish! He wants to be the first to volunteer to work down the mine.

 

[jefoss]

You only want us to start using it so you can tell us all how little there is of it and how expensive it's going to become

MW

 

[noseall]

i have to say, i was born in a mining town (colliery) and it died a death when the pit shut.

bring 'em on.

 

[Stivino]

If the price of coal has doubled in the past twelve months someone had better tell my coalman because his coal only went up by 50p a bag.
Anyway, there's no pits mowadays as it all seems to be open cast up here, it's open, emptied and shut in about 5 years.

 

[JohnD]

for best results, we should reopen them after the Thatcher has died, then we could rig up a generator to her grave and get extra power from her spinning.

it may obstruct the dancing crowds, though.

 

[Trazor]

Who would want to bring back such an awful industry,Wales is now a much better/cleaner place to live. Other industries moved in to replace mining.

Emphysema is a deadly killer, it was often said that, "if you drew your old age pension, you weren't a miner.
I'm willing to bet that the life expectancy of men in Wales has risen substantially since mining was all but extinguished.

My father in law was a miner, and was diagnosed with Emphysema 6 months ago.............

 

[joe-90]

Yeah but there wont be any industry if oil keeps rising in price. Something has to be done.

 

[megawatt]

Who would want to bring back such an awful industry,Wales is now a much better/cleaner place to live. Other industries moved in to replace mining.

Maybe modern technology would make it cleaner/safer/more productive?

MW

 

[Trazor]

Maybe modern technology would make it cleaner/safer/more productive?MW

If fully automated OK.
But once you put men down mines, it is virtually impossible to protect their lungs.
Sufficient respiratory apparatus to protect them, is to unwieldily, and the heat build up in the suits/masks would be intolerable.

 

[tim west]

don't mine it just ignite it and itll glow for hundreds of years providing heat for generating electricity for one.

 

[gangman]

In the UK we have hundreds of years supply of coal. That's too much potential energy to just leave in the ground, but it's all about the cost of getting it out of the ground.

Opencast mining is obviously the cheapest but not always possible, thus the need for drift mines or deep mines. So we need to keep the industry going not to lose the knowledge and expertise that's needed for deep mine extraction. Without it, it will end up as another industry taken out of British hands.

I don't think we'll see a massive expansion in the industry yet but imported coal will get more expensive so our own coal will become a better prospect. Technology is also helping with the possibility of 'clean coal' and carbon capture.

As for the working conditions that's an accepted part of the industry, there's plenty of jobs that carry risks, if you can't accept them do something else.

 

[libby lou lou]

As the pits were shutting down, i was lead to believe that once theyv'e flooded, it would be to expensive to re enstate them to there former glory ?