2015-08-12
532
Coal has been worked in Britain for 700 yy. Coal mining industry has been in existence for over 300 yy – twice as long as any European country. Even in the mid 1960s British Rail was still running on coal power (steam). In the 1970s a strike by coal miners left Britain on the infamous three day week. In 1981 the Uk was the 4th largest coal producer in the world, today - the 15th.
Employment in the coal industry has declined from 1 mln in 1908 to 6000 today. Overall, since 1981 the coal production has fallen by more than 75 %.
The decline of the coal industry started after the WWI. It accelerated after the WWII & in particular after the miners’ strike of 1984.
Reasons:
1. UK coal industry has become uncompetitive. It was cheaper to import it. Earlier – from Europe, today – from Argentine.
2. New sources of energy: gas, oil, nuclear power – came into existence.
3. Decline in demand for coal. Steam power was replaced by diesel & electric. Household used to burn coal for central heating. Switched to gas & oil.
4. Political issues. Coal trade unions were powerful & used to bring the country to a standstill. Right wing politicians (M. Thatcher) were determined to break the political & economic power of the coal mining trade unions. Te strike of 84-85 was the watershed for mining. The mining industry would be privatized & much reduced as electricity industry was freed to buy coal from foreign suppliers.
5. Global warming & the need to reduce CO2 emissions.
The UK still owns large deposits of coal, sufficient to last for at least 300 yy. At the present rate of consumption. It hasn’t folded as in Europe.
Much of the industry is owned by The UK Coal – privately owned company.
Coal is produced in deep pits (Midlands, North –закрытый способ добычи - неэффективный) & is extracted at very large opencast pits (South Wales – открытый или карьерный способ добычи – экономически выгодный)
Major pits:
Daw Mill, Kellingley, Maltby, Thoresby, Nottingham…
In 2008 the last deep mine was closed in South Wales.
Iron ore production has also played an important role among the UK’s industries. Iron ore+coal=steel. (Teeside, South Wales…) That’s why steel plants are placed where iron ore plants used to be.
The UK steel industry is modern, efficient & environmentally responsible.
The largest UK producer – Corus – a leading member of a European consortium investing in a multi-million euro project to develop a next generation, low carbon steelmaking technology. (Indian owner, possibly)
Oil & gas
With coal industry all but gone, the major primary industry is currently North Sea oil. It’s concentrated on the UK Continental Shelf.
The UK has the 30th largest proven oil reserves & the 39th largest proven natural gas reserves in the world. (на 30 лет вперед)
The UK is the largest producer of oil & second largest producer of natural gas in the EU (after Norway). Один сектор в Сев. море с Данией.
The waters in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland contain nearly half of the UK’s remaining oil reserves & a quarter of reserves are located in the North Sea west of the Shetland Islands.
According to Oil & Gas Journal, the UK had 2, 9 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves in 2011, the most of any EU member country.
North Sea oil production peaked in 2001 & is now declining.
In 2010 the UK produced sufficient oil & gas to meet more than 75% of its demand for oil & 60% of its need for gas.
Besides these offshore assets the UK also has an oil field located in the Wessex Basin – the largest onshore oil field in Europe which has produced more than 400 mln barrels of oil over its 35-year life.
Diversification of supply to avoid political risks:
- Oil exports: Sweden, France, USA, Germany, Netherlands
- Oil imports: Russia, Norway, Tunisia, Nigeria, Libya
Most natural gas production is also located in the North Sea, with a small amount onshore & in the Irish Sea.
In 2009 the UK received 55 % of its LNG (Liquified Natural Gas – сжиженный газ) imports from Qatar, with the remaining volumes arriving from Trinidad & Tobago, Algeria, Egypt & Australia.
The UK also imports natural gas through Frigg pipeline system in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
Primary energy production accounts for 10 % of GDP (производство сырья, готовой продукции, сектор услуг)
Energy sources: coal, hydroelectric (rivers in GB are slow – almost none), nuclear, oil, gas.
The UK energy production: fossil fuels (75 %), nuclear power (15-17 %), hydroelectric, non-wind renewables – 5 %, wind turbines – 2-3%
Currently, there’re 10 nuclear power plants (used to be 15) in the UK, with a combined capacity of more than 22 megawatts. One of the first generation power plants in the UK was to be shut in 2012.
