Great Britain wants to store CO2 from new coal mine underground

London, Dusseldorf The announcement came at an unusual time: in mid-2022 – in a year that brought record heat and drought even to the British Isles – the British government announced the construction of a new coal mine.

Coal is one of the most climate-damaging fuels, the new mine alone is said to cause around 400,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year. And the mine is set to open in north-west Cumbria, of all places, near the Lake District Nature Reserve. An announcement that seemed at odds with the UK government’s target of net zero emissions of fossil pollutants into the atmosphere by 2050. The government countered initial criticism succinctly: The coal mine will finally be closed again in 2049 and is therefore not in conflict with the climate target.