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We generate a lot of this electricity by burning gas which we have to buy from the market where prices are set relative to global supply and demand. This is wh

by dazc 4y ago

We generate a lot of this electricity by burning gas which we have to buy from the market where prices are set relative to global supply and demand. This is why we originally stopped mining coal - because Russian gas was so cheap at the time that it was a no-brainer. What could possibly go wrong?

origin_path 4y ago
UK stopped mining coal mostly in the 1980s when Russia was still the Soviet Union. The cause was not Russian gas which isn't a direct substitute for coal anyway and especially not back then, but rather that the NUM destroyed the domestic coal industry, which became totally uncompetitive relative to more or less any foreign producers. It wasn't Russia specifically, it was that UK mining became dysfunctional and unreliable.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  is it fair to call it disfunctional? Are you expecting to compete on price with countries where workers have no rights, no health and safety and live a dog's life?
  - trasz 4y ago
    Those stereotypes about Australia are mostly unfounded nowadays.
- dazc 4y ago
  Perhaps I'm mis-remembering but I was certain that the abundance of cheap gas was one of the main arguments for closing down a lot of mines that were considered to uneconomical as a result. Maybe we were also importing cheaper coal from elsewhere?
- synotna2 4y ago
  > but rather that the NUM destroyed the domestic coal industry, which became totally uncompetitive relative to more or less any foreign producers. It wasn't Russia specifically, it was that UK mining became dysfunctional and unreliable. If you think miners should not be fairly compensated for their work you're free to go work as one for one of those foreign producers that less "dysfunctional" and more "reliable"
tsimionescu 4y ago
Coal has so many disadvantages beyond simple price that it's not even funny. It is by far the most deadly energy generation method.
- dazc 4y ago
  This may be true but until there is a suitable alternative most of the developed world will continue to use it. Europe is now at a critical point where choosing not to burn coal is going to have a high economic cost that many people are not going to be able or willing to pay.

by dazc 4y ago

origin_path 4y ago

UK stopped mining coal mostly in the 1980s when Russia was still the Soviet Union. The cause was not Russian gas which isn't a direct substitute for coal anyway and especially not back then, but rather that the NUM destroyed the domestic coal industry, which became totally uncompetitive relative to more or less any foreign producers. It wasn't Russia specifically, it was that UK mining became dysfunctional and unreliable.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
is it fair to call it disfunctional? Are you expecting to compete on price with countries where workers have no rights, no health and safety and live a dog's life?
- trasz 4y ago
  Those stereotypes about Australia are mostly unfounded nowadays.
dazc 4y ago
Perhaps I'm mis-remembering but I was certain that the abundance of cheap gas was one of the main arguments for closing down a lot of mines that were considered to uneconomical as a result. Maybe we were also importing cheaper coal from elsewhere?
synotna2 4y ago
> but rather that the NUM destroyed the domestic coal industry, which became totally uncompetitive relative to more or less any foreign producers. It wasn't Russia specifically, it was that UK mining became dysfunctional and unreliable. If you think miners should not be fairly compensated for their work you're free to go work as one for one of those foreign producers that less "dysfunctional" and more "reliable"

tsimionescu 4y ago

Coal has so many disadvantages beyond simple price that it's not even funny. It is by far the most deadly energy generation method.

dazc 4y ago
This may be true but until there is a suitable alternative most of the developed world will continue to use it. Europe is now at a critical point where choosing not to burn coal is going to have a high economic cost that many people are not going to be able or willing to pay.