Colombia do tho' and we import coal from there. however,russia does have the second most dangerous pits in the world and working conditions and wages are shocking.
It's wasn't just Barnsleys workforce . Yeah labour did close pits , but when the coal reserves had been exhausted or geological faults . Unlike the Tory's policy of pumping millions of pounds into it then saying its financially unviable .
OMG. The only pits labour closed were the ones that were geologically uneconomic/ unsafe or completely mined out and when they did close mines there was no compulsory redundancies, those who didn't take redundancy were transfered to other pits, also while closing pits they were investing in other viable pits to increase production and to create super pits. But just carry on stating little bits of incomplete information to make a cheap point, just like the tory lickspittle media.
Worse than I found out then http://www.ukcoal.com/world-coal-statistics.html Figures I was working off.
I got that off the NUM website. Do you really think that if Thatcher hadn't closed the mines in the 80s and 90s they'd still be open today? They'd still have been closed by the Conservatives or Labour, most likely both.
Cheap coal is coming from the USA where shale gas has reduced the price, this has led to a mini-revival in coal-burning in Europe but it's not expected to last due to EU regulations: http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/02/is-there-a-european-coal-revival
Exactly how have I done that I said the real truth didn't come out today And I stand by that Thatcher DID USE THE ARMY AGAINST THE MINERS
Tyrone I have read most of your posts bout the miners and Scargill and the strike over the years so don't come all this ****
You just won't admit the thatcher regime planned and destroyed our great coal industry . The knock on effect was unreal .
2 of the biggest coal producers still in the world are the USA and Germany, those who say it wasn't and still couldn't have been a viable industry is just repeating Tory propaganda. Even IF it made rational economic sense to wind down the coal industry in the long run the way it was done condemned a generation to worklessness in many parts of the country, in a deliberate and vindictive way to "punish" people for standing up for their right to work. Anyone from a coal mining area who supports this is, in my mind, a traitor to their roots and should be ashamed of themselves.
I come from a mining family and have never ever posted anything other than support for them during the strike and for scargil I have however saI'd that I worked for a nationalised company that got privatised so I won as a result of Tory policies
Just checked and you're correct in that during 2013 steam coal imports from the USA fell 30% and from Russia went up 28%, American prices must have risen, but it's not 60% of total imports its 49% https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends See coal imports table.
Tyrone I know your a wind up and I blame myself for engaging with you but to lie in your wind ups is about as low a you can get.signing off
I simply do not know, no one does and neither do you, but what is beyond doubt is that the strike was politically motivated by the tories, tory policies created a negative environment for the use of coal, the tories hate everything europe but gleefully embraced any euro policy that demonised the burning of coal. It is the responsibility of government to protect as much as possible, anything that is required for the country to function and to me power comes at the top of that list. Encouraging power generators to switch to gas, that at the time was known to be only available for 30/40 years, in stead of coal with a 300 year availability, just to rig the market against coal was political vandalism. To then close the mines, sell off the power generators to their pals who in turn sold them for massive profits to foreign companies who then import coal from countries who subsidise their coal producers is again political vandalism. ANYTHING that the country needs in order to function should be owned by the people for the people and not be subjected to profit and loss ideologies, in saying that though, they should be run efficiently and priced fairly. I include, Power generation and distribution, coal, gas, oil, transport, nhs, local and national public services, also these organisations should be actively encourages to source their requirements from locally based companies, but of course this would need a fair and progressive tax system to work and wouldn't allow parasites to milk money from them by "investing" in shares and selling them on.
it used to be 60%,but 49 is still a fair chunk,and Colombia is in 2nd place...two countries definitely worth sacrificing our industry for EH?.NOT.
Still not very bright are you ? we are geenrating around 20 GW from coal at the moment the plants with FGD plant fitted (14GW) will run until 2023 carrying on googling - your pants are down