Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential environmental impact of (a) importing coal from abroad for domestic consumption and (b) mining coal in the UK.

In line with our net zero target, we committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation by 1st October 2024, a year earlier than the original 2025 target, and on September 30th Great Britain’s last coal fired electricity power plant, Ratcliffe-upon-Soar, closed. This means we have reduced coal’s share of our electricity supply from around a third, to zero in the space of only ten years. Most imported coal is used by industry, including steel making, cement and chemical industries, and patent fuel manufacture.

Coal production and import information can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a7a172a3c2a28abb50d8be/DUKES_2024_Chapter_2.pdf