BERLIN — Germany is closing one of its last two black coal mines Friday, ending an industry that laid the foundations for the country’s industrial revolution and its post-war economic recovery. ADVERTISEMENTBlack coal mines once dominated the surrounding Ruhr region, employing up to half a million people at their peak in the 1950s, but have since been in steady decline, surviving only thanks to generous government subsidies. The end of those deep-shaft mines is seen as a test for the planned closure of open-cast lignite, or brown coal, mines still operating in Germany. A government-appointed panel is due to deliver a report in February laying out proposals for the gradual phasing out of lignite mines. One of the panel’s members said the hundreds of billions in subsidies paid to prop up black coal in Germany were a cautionary tale.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 21, 2018 08:03 UTC