Coal mining

Ljubljana/Šoštanj/Velenje – Focus has welcomed the government’s proposal to phase out coal in Slovenia by 2033, saying this is the most sensible decision given the three potential scenarios to restructure Slovenia’s two coal regions. Still, it believes that given the Paris Agreement, Slovenia should drop coal by 2030, just like 14 other EU members.

Ljubljana, 15 March – The Infrastructure Ministry has launched a public consultation on the draft national strategy to phase out coal and restructure the country’s two coal regions. The document applies to Savinja-Šalek, which has coal-fired power station TEŠ and a coal mine, and to Zasavje, where there are no longer any active mines or thermal plants.

The population in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, known for its production and trading of hard coal as a main economic activity, has been observed to have dwindled over the last decade due to the narrowing of the mining sector and the young generation migrating to larger cities for jobs.

Danciu, 31, only wishes it had happened sooner.

"Just Transition is a process that should have started 23 years ago," he told BIRN.

"Only now do we think of it as something serious, something that needs to be done, when the valley is half empty. It's a pity we lost so much time."

'Great potential'

Mihai Danciu. Photo: Private archive

Every year, thousands of people die prematurely in Serbia due to the quality of the air they breathe. Yet the country is still in breach of obligations to control harmful emissions from its coal-fired power plants.

Fourteen miners were killed in a coal mine in China.

Two people are still blocked underground.

This is another serious incident in China's mining industry, suffering from poor working conditions and circumventing safety measures.

Seven workers were found alive after a blast in a mine in Guizhou province, southwest of Anshun.

A delegation made up of representatives of the miners who are protesting on Sunday, for the seventh consecutive day, in the underground of Paroseni and Uricani coal mines in Jiu Valley is expected on Monday morning at the Victoria Governmental Palace and, afterwards, at the Energy Ministry headquarters, in the attempt to find a solution to the miners' demands.

Turkey's marketable production of lignite stood at 5.5 million tons February and hard coal stood at 96,079 tons, as 339,104 tons of coke were derived from hard coal in February, according to April 29 data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

As the European Union seeks to wean the continent off coal, Bulgaria is digging in, postponing tough decisions to the ultimate detriment of coal workers, taxpayers and the energy grid, experts warn.

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier tries to calm and to address students and pupils who staged a potest as part of the "Fridays for Future", on Jan. 25 in front of the Economy Ministry in Berlin where the coal commission met with the minister. Banner behind reads "meet climate goals".