News & Star reported that a UK Government inquiry into the controversial Woodhouse Colliery coal mine planned for Whitehaven rages on and the latest concern heard about the planning application is that the demand for metallurgical coal will not justify the development. Solicitor for Friends of the Earth Paul Brown QC called on Dr Jonathan Cullen to give evidence. Dr Cullen is a doctor of philosophy in engineering and an associate professor in Energy, Transport and Urban Infrastructure at the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He said: "Achieving net zero carbon emissions for steel production in the UK and mainland Europe by 2050 will be challenging. Meeting climate change demands is key to drive a move from primary steel production from iron ore towards secondary steel production from steel scrap and an overall reduction in demand for steel. Both these emission reduction strategies result in a reduced requirement for primary steel production from iron ore and therefore less demand for metallurgical coal."These inevitable shifts in steel production will reduce the requirement for metallurgical coal in the UK and mainline Europe making the proposed West Cumbria Mining mine redundant."But Mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie said "There's going to be a demand for metallurgical coal and an increasing demand for it for at least 30 years. If the coal isn't mined from Whitehaven we'll be importing it from elsewhere, that is a fact."
News & Star reported that a UK Government inquiry into the controversial Woodhouse Colliery coal mine planned for Whitehaven rages on and the latest concern heard about the planning application is that the demand for metallurgical coal will not justify the development. Solicitor for Friends of the Earth Paul Brown QC called on Dr Jonathan Cullen to give evidence. Dr Cullen is a doctor of philosophy in engineering and an associate professor in Energy, Transport and Urban Infrastructure at the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He said: "Achieving net zero carbon emissions for steel production in the UK and mainland Europe by 2050 will be challenging. Meeting climate change demands is key to drive a move from primary steel production from iron ore towards secondary steel production from steel scrap and an overall reduction in demand for steel. Both these emission reduction strategies result in a reduced requirement for primary steel production from iron ore and therefore less demand for metallurgical coal."These inevitable shifts in steel production will reduce the requirement for metallurgical coal in the UK and mainline Europe making the proposed West Cumbria Mining mine redundant."But Mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie said "There's going to be a demand for metallurgical coal and an increasing demand for it for at least 30 years. If the coal isn't mined from Whitehaven we'll be importing it from elsewhere, that is a fact."
