Transnational Pollution: Coal Mining and Unsustainable Power Generation in Germany
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The Lignite Mining Area in Rhineland (detailed picture) |
I visited Inden, opencast coalmine in Germany on October 20, 2003, after hearing (via TV news) that the mining activities in the area were causing serious environmental damage to the province of Limburg, across the border in the Netherlands.
The area where I visited, lies between Cologne, Aachen and Munchengladbach, in North-Rhine-Westphalia. It is Europe's largest opencast mine complex of lignite, or brown coal. Around 100 million tons of it is extracted annually from three large opencast mines, located in adjoining sites, known as Hambach, Inden and Garzweiler.
Over the years, the mining activities have scarred the land and created massive man-made canyons, reaching a depth of up to 500 metres and over 10 Km wide. While at one end the lignite is being extracted, the other end is being filled up with slag (ashes from the burning process of coal). In this manner the opencast mine is expected to wander through the countryside until about 2050, by which time the lignite deposits would have been exhausted. The mining activities have destroyed over 50 villages, some of which go back to the Roman period.
Panoramic view of the Inden canyon, with the chief excavator visible on the lower left side
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In the eye of the excavator |
There are 10 such meter diagonal scoopers per excavator wheel |
Destroy Carbon Sink, Create Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
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Most of the mined lignite is used as a fuel to power the nearby electricity generating station. Lignite burning supplies 30% of Germany's needs for electrical power. As lignite is a poor quality fuel, 60% of its energy is lost to the atmosphere as waste heat, along with vast amounts of carbon dioxide, soot and probably sulphur dioxide, a gas that causes acid rain. The process of mining and burning lignite serves to convert vast quantities of a carbon sink [lignite], into atmospheric carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. The RWE-RHEINBRAUN company owns both the coalmines and the power stations, making it a very powerful corporation indeed.
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One of the RWE-RHEINBRAUN power stations |
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South bankview of Inden canyon with RWE-RHEINBRAUN power station smoke rising in the background |
30% of Germany's electricity is generated by burning lignite |
Subsiding Water Table, Earth Subsidence and Habitat Destruction
In this part of the world, the water table varies between 10 to 20 metres below the surface of the land. An opencast mine that requires excavation to100s of metres deep will become seriously flooded. Dry conditions are essential for mining. Therefore, vast quantities of water are pumped from the basin of the canyons into nearby rivers. It is this that has caused the most visible environmental impact in the Netherlands. To put it simply, water is draining from the outlying areas of the canyons, including the Netherlands, which is only at some 20 Km distance, into the canyon and in the process, the water table is dropping. As a consequence of this, there is ground subsidence and destruction to trees and vegetation, as their roots can no longer tap into the ground water reserves.
Friends of the Earth, a world-wide environmental campaigning charity [Freunde Der Erde, in German] write: "Even when the canyons have been filled and woods have been re-established on the surface, the situation below the underground remains a chaotic mixture of slag. The previous geological layers, which are so important for filtering and collecting ground water, are destroyed. It will take hundreds of years for similar conditions to re-develop.
Obviously, when an opencast mine is being refilled, the volume of the lignite is missing. As a result, gigantic artificial lakes come into being with a depth of nearly 200 metres and a surface area of several thousand acres. It should take decades until they are filled with water from the river Rhine.
Ground water seeping will be contaminated from salts in the slag. This will turn the lakes into reservoirs of poison. The largest reserves of ground water in the most populated area of Germany will be damaged forever."
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Historic villages being bulldozed to allow the opencast mine to advance |
German environmental activists look on in dismay |
South side of Inden Canyon. In the grey haze, the principal excavator is visible, which eats through the earth 24 hours a day
North side of Inden canyon, revealing geological strata with two small pockets of surving woods at the top
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Excavator nears another doomed village |
Protesting demonstrations demanding an end to coal mining and unsustainable development |
What are the alternatives to lignite burning?
Cutting back on energy wastage is a first obvious step. Electrical energy should not be generated centrally but locally, thus cutting down on the distance between production centres and consumption points, as this wastes as much as 25% of the generated electricity.
Geothermal energy. There's plenty of free heat not far beneath the surface of the earth. This can easily be changed to electrical energy.
Biogas, a fuel gas from organic waste, which can be used instead of lignite.
Solar panels. Every house can generate electricity by means of roof-mounted solar panels.
Are there other renewable energy sources?
Bibliography:
Rhineland Lignite mine Germany.
People's Initiative In Rhineland "Stop Lignite Open-Cast Mining"
