Germany closes last coal minehome/News/World/Germany closes last coal mineBERLIN: Germany will close its last black coal mine on Friday (Saturday in Manila), turning the page on two centuries of mining history in the Ruhr region that helped fuel the country’s post-war “economic miracle.”Although the end of the Prosper-Haniel colliery near the western town of Bottrop comes as polluting coal is increasingly under scrutiny, it was cheaper hard coal from abroad, not environmental concerns, that sounded the mine’s death knell. “For 150 years, coal was the country’s main energy resource and most important raw material,” said historian Franz-Josef Brueggemeier, author of a study on the Ruhr’s mining history. Western Germany’s tight grip on the crucial coal and steel sectors inspired France to propose the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, a common market between six countries designed to regulate competition — and a precursor to the European Union (EU). In 2017 alone, the German government spent more than a billion euros propping up hard-coal mining. “[Bringing up] a tonne of German hard coal costs 250 euros ($285), but only sells for 80 euros on the market,” said Christof Beike, a spokesman for the RAG Foundation, tasked with managing the Prosper-Haniel site after its closure and helping miners navigate the changes.

Source: Manila Times December 20, 2018 01:41 UTC