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Calls for the phasing out of the coal industry are damaging Germany’s reputation in international environmental circles

The German lignite industry feels that Germany’s international reputation for climate protection is being massively threatened by the activities of the environmental organisation Greenpeace. Eye-catching assertions that climate protection is not possible with coal usage are an absurd contradiction.

Coal mining in Germany High tech below ground

Countries all over the world are banking on coal and eco-friendly technologies that have been developed in Germany and elsewhere. The Cologne-based Federal Lignite Association (DEBRIV) fears that Germany and the EU will damage the credibility of future international climate conferences if they evade their responsibility. What is more, any rejection of coal would endanger Germany’s own security of supply.

Many countries whose active participation in a global environmental policy will be indispensable are now counting on coal to boost their economic development and improve their living standards, especially given the current situation in respect of global resource availability. In the last six years alone world coal consumption has risen 31% to some 4.4 billion tonnes (bn t). About 40% of the world’s electricity production is coal based and this figure is expected to increase. The latest study produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA) points to a dynamic development in the world energy markets, with high growth rates being exhibited by coal and the modernising energy electricity. Dispensing with coal use in Germany is a policy that has not been properly thought through.

Against a background of growing energy demand outside the OECD it is especially important, according to DEBRIV, for us to develop technologies aimed at increasingly low CO₂ power generation and to introduce these on to the world market. We need intensive dialogue between the main players in order to work out what is really possible and what options we have for taking action. DEBRIV has also said that Greenpeace would have a role to play in this area. At both global and European level the key question is not whether coal should be used but how.

Average efficiency at coal-fired power stations, in global terms, currently stands at about 30%. However, this mean value conceals a huge range of different performance levels. Government policy should first be directed at ensuring that the worst-performing and oldest plant are replaced by modern installations. Experience has shown that new coal-fired plant have a 30% lower specific energy demand, which means they generate 30% fewer CO₂  emissions. This means that over the next 10 to 15 years energy efficiency levels can be increased considerably without many developing countries having to forego an improvement in living standards.

The introduction of new materials and power-plant designs gives us the potential to raise power-station efficiency levels to over 50%. Increasing plant efficiency and bringing-in new technologies, such as coal gasification, are a precondition for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide underground.


DEBRIV - Bundesverband Braunkohle
Postfach 40 02 52
50832 Cologne
Max-Planck-Strasse 37
50858 Cologne
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e-mail: Uwe.Maassen@braunkohle.de