Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • Strategic autonomy
    • War in Ukraine
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

Getting out of the coal black hole

Alexandru Mustață 2nd November 2022

Europe can replace all Russian fossil-fuel imports with clean solutions by 2025—but only if it avoids the coal trap.

coal, fossil fuel,gas,Russia,Russian,Putin,energy,savings,renewable,renewables,solar,wind,hydro
The Mátra coal plant in Hungary—its lifespan is to be extended (Peter Gudella / shutterstock.com)

Since Russia escalated its invasion of Ukraine in February, European countries have been scrambling to plug a gaping hole in their energy supplies. Αs they strive to stop funding Vladimir Putin’s war, Russia is cutting flows of gas to the continent.

To ensure enough energy is available to heat homes and run essential industries this winter, some European governments have announced temporary increases in coal burning. Initial analysis by the think tank Ember indicates that these measures are limited and should not jeopardise Europe’s longer-term climate commitments.

With the prospect of no Russian gas to fill European storage facilities for future winters, however, these temporary measures could lead to a coal lock-in—but only if Europe fails to accelerate investments in cheap renewable energy and to enhance energy savings.

No justification

Coal is the single largest source of the global carbon emissions driving the climate crisis—cause of the deadly flooding and heatwaves witnessed in Europe in recent years—and needs to be phased out by 2030 if the European Union is to achieve its climate targets. Analysis by Ember, E3G, RAP and Bellona shows that the EU can remove the equivalent amount of gas typically imported from Russia by 2025 (two years earlier than it plans) through a combination of energy savings, electrification, renewable energy and other supportive solutions. There is no justification for additional coal burning beyond 2025, or investments in new fossil-fuel infrastructure.


Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content. We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Sign up here

Analysis by Bruegel shows that European governments have earmarked around half a trillion euro over the last year to shield citizens and companies from rising energy costs. This is only right: people and businesses need massive government support to get through the coming winter.

The issue is whether this helps accelerate the transition to a renewables-based European energy system—which will permanently bring down energy bills, ensure energy security and contribute to a safer climate—or ends up in a ‘bonfire’ of fossil-fuel payments, subsidies and investments. The fact that EU countries have spent €105 billion on Russian fossil fuels since the war escalated and fossil-fuel companies are announcing record profits does not suggest our leaders have been quick to learn their lesson.

While the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan to eliminate dependence on Russian energy imports and fast-forward the green transition is very welcome, a dive into the details of the plan suggests up to €2 billion could be spent on measures to support the ‘delayed phase-out and more operating hours for coal’. Analysts at Ember recently calculated that a 95 per cent clean power system in Europe by 2035, based on 70-80 per cent solar and wind, would save up to €1 trillion on current plans.

Perverse pressure

There is simply no economic, social, environmental or energy-security argument for wasting more money on coal. Yet to do so risks fostering a perverse economic pressure to deliver a return.

Despite the overwhelming majority of European countries so far engaging in only very short-term coal measures, some are seeking to use the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis as an excuse for coal expansion. As one of Europe’s countries most dependent on Russian fossil fuels, Hungary has seen its payments for imported oil and fossil gas leap almost fivefold, from €4 billion in 2019 to an estimated €19 billion this year. In response, the government announced in July a seven-point plan to tackle the country’s energy emergency.

Unfortunately, rather than learning from this painful lesson in fossil-fuel price volatility, Hungary plans to invest large sums to extend the lifespan of its hulking Mátra coal power plant until 2029 and to intensify lignite production up to 2030. In the process, it will fail to capitalise on real opportunities to cut energy costs enduringly by unshackling the country’s wind power, tapping into its enormous geothermal potential or addressing its low progress on energy efficiency.

‘Investing’ in coal is always an act of self-harm: money spent trying to resurrect dirty coal plants or expand mines is money lost for good. It is already cheaper to generate electricity from renewables and energy sources such as solar, wind and heat pumps come without the health risks, environmental damage or dependencies associated with fossil fuels. In abandoning its 2025 coal phase-out plan, Hungary will also inflict damage on its high-carbon regions, which will no longer be eligible for support beyond the €270 million they have drawn down from EU just-transition funds.

More promising outlook

Elsewhere the outlook is more promising. Between January 2016 and February 2022, 171 of Europe’s 328 coal plants closed or confirmed pre-2030 retirements and that number has increased during this year. On a national level, 17 European countries have stopped burning coal or have committed to doing so by 2030 at the latest, and not one has gone back on this pledge.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

Germany’s biggest power utility, RWE, recently conceded that it will exit coal by 2030, eight years earlier than previously planned, while the German government has announced plans for clean energy to provide 80 per cent of its power by 2030. Portugal has ruled out any return to coal, having closed its last plant in 2021, while the Netherlands has announced it intends to double its offshore wind capacity to 21 gigawatts by 2030, makung that its largest source of energy.

Disappointingly, Greece has pushed back its coal phase-out by three years to 2028. But its renewables share increased this year to 46 per cent of power between January and August, and last month the country was entirely powered by renewables for the first time.

Investing in a truly secure, affordable and entirely renewables-based European power system is the peace plan that will bring lasting benefits for people and the planet. The good news for decision-makers is that 87 per cent of Europeans think ‘the EU should invest massively in renewable energies’ such as solar and wind, to reduce its dependence on Russian sources as soon as possible.

Will our governments learn from their mistakes and make the massive investments in the long-term, renewable-energy solutions and energy savings that will deliver the secure system Europeans want? This is the cheapest, fastest and only permanent route out of a crisis their voters expect them to resolve.

Alexandru Mustață
Alexandru Mustață

Alexandru Mustață is a campaigner with Europe Beyond Coal. From 2016, he led one of the first just-transition campaigns in central and eastern Europe and from 2017 until 2021 he co-ordinated the Bankwatch Network just-transition campaign in seven countries.

You are here: Home / Ecology / Getting out of the coal black hole

Most Popular Posts

European civil war,iron curtain,NATO,Ukraine,Gorbachev The new European civil warGuido Montani
Visentini,ITUC,Qatar,Fight Impunity,50,000 Visentini, ‘Fight Impunity’, the ITUC and QatarFrank Hoffer
Russian soldiers' mothers,war,Ukraine The Ukraine war and Russian soldiers’ mothersJennifer Mathers and Natasha Danilova
IGU,documents,International Gas Union,lobby,lobbying,sustainable finance taxonomy,green gas,EU,COP ‘Gaslighting’ Europe on fossil fuelsFaye Holder
Schengen,Fortress Europe,Romania,Bulgaria Romania and Bulgaria stuck in EU’s second tierMagdalena Ulceluse

Most Recent Posts

EU social agenda,social investment,social protection EU social agenda beyond 2024—no time to wasteFrank Vandenbroucke
pension reform,Germany,Lindner Pension reform in Germany—a market solution?Fabian Mushövel and Nicholas Barr
European civil war,iron curtain,NATO,Ukraine,Gorbachev The new European civil warGuido Montani
artists,cultural workers Europe’s stars must shine for artists and creativesIsabelle Van de Gejuchte
transition,deindustrialisation,degradation,environment Europe’s industry and the ecological transitionCharlotte Bez and Lorenzo Feltrin

Other Social Europe Publications

front cover scaled Towards a social-democratic century?
Cover e1655225066994 National recovery and resilience plans
Untitled design The transatlantic relationship
Women Corona e1631700896969 500 Women and the coronavirus crisis
sere12 1 RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Discover the new FEPS Progressive Yearbook and what 2023 has in store for us!

The Progressive Yearbook focuses on transversal European issues that have left a mark on 2022, delivering insightful future-oriented analysis for the new year. It counts on renowned authors' contributions, including academics, politicians and analysts. This fourth edition is published in a time of war and, therefore, it mostly looks at the conflict itself, the actors involved and the implications for Europe.


DOWNLOAD HERE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

The macroeconomic effects of re-applying the EU fiscal rules

Against the background of the European Commission's reform plans for the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), this policy brief uses the macroeconometric multi-country model NiGEM to simulate the macroeconomic implications of the most relevant reform options from 2024 onwards. Next to a return to the existing and unreformed rules, the most prominent options include an expenditure rule linked to a debt anchor.

Our results for the euro area and its four biggest economies—France, Italy, Germany and Spain—indicate that returning to the rules of the SGP would lead to severe cuts in public spending, particularly if the SGP rules were interpreted as in the past. A more flexible interpretation would only somewhat ease the fiscal-adjustment burden. An expenditure rule along the lines of the European Fiscal Board would, however, not necessarily alleviate that burden in and of itself.

Our simulations show great care must be taken to specify the expenditure rule, such that fiscal consolidation is achieved in a growth-friendly way. Raising the debt ceiling to 90 per cent of gross domestic product and applying less demanding fiscal adjustments, as proposed by the IMK, would go a long way.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ILO advertisement

Global Wage Report 2022-23: The impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power

The International Labour Organization's Global Wage Report is a key reference on wages and wage inequality for the academic community and policy-makers around the world.

This eighth edition of the report, The Impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power, examines the evolution of real wages, giving a unique picture of wage trends globally and by region. The report includes evidence on how wages have evolved through the COVID-19 crisis as well as how the current inflationary context is biting into real wage growth in most regions of the world. The report shows that for the first time in the 21st century real wage growth has fallen to negative values while, at the same time, the gap between real productivity growth and real wage growth continues to widen.

The report analysis the evolution of the real total wage bill from 2019 to 2022 to show how its different components—employment, nominal wages and inflation—have changed during the COVID-19 crisis and, more recently, during the cost-of-living crisis. The decomposition of the total wage bill, and its evolution, is shown for all wage employees and distinguishes between women and men. The report also looks at changes in wage inequality and the gender pay gap to reveal how COVID-19 may have contributed to increasing income inequality in different regions of the world. Together, the empirical evidence in the report becomes the backbone of a policy discussion that could play a key role in a human-centred recovery from the different ongoing crises.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ETUI advertisement

Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2022

Since 2000, the annual Bilan social volume has been analysing the state of play of social policy in the European Union during the preceding year, the better to forecast developments in the new one. Co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the new edition is no exception. In the context of multiple crises, the authors find that social policies gained in ambition in 2022. At the same time, the new EU economic framework, expected for 2023, should be made compatible with achieving the EU’s social and ‘green’ objectives. Finally, they raise the question whether the EU Social Imbalances Procedure and Open Strategic Autonomy paradigm could provide windows of opportunity to sustain the EU’s social ambition in the long run.


DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Eurofound webinar: Making telework work for everyone

Since 2020 more European workers and managers have enjoyed greater flexibility and autonomy in work and are reporting their preference for hybrid working. Also driven by technological developments and structural changes in employment, organisations are now integrating telework more permanently into their workplace.

To reflect on these shifts, on 6 December Eurofound researchers Oscar Vargas and John Hurley explored the challenges and opportunities of the surge in telework, as well as the overall growth of telework and teleworkable jobs in the EU and what this means for workers, managers, companies and policymakers.


WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us

RSS Feed

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube