UK Energy Minister John Hayes congratulates new WCA Chairman Dr Zhang Xiwu
LONDON – UK Minister of State for Energy, John Hayes, joined the World Coal Association (WCA) last night in celebrating the appointment of the new WCA Chairman, Zhang Xiwu.
Speaking at the WCA Leadership reception at the Institute of Directors, the Minister congratulated Dr Zhang and offered him his “very best wishes for his tenure as Chairman of the World Coal Association”.
Mr Hayes spoke of the vital role of coal in the UK, highlighting that: “No-one working on energy policy could be oblivious to the impact of coal, then and now, worldwide as a source of energy. Coal continues to have an important role in the UK energy mix, providing more than a third of electricity in an average year, and rather more in weather like this.”
Given this role, the Minister promised that he “[is] determined to be the Minister that put coal into the coalition”. In addition, Mr Hayes said: “We can bring clean, affordable and reliable energy to our people and to help share that benefit to other nations around the world. Organisations like the World Coal Association clearly have a vital role to play in doing that work”.
Dr Zhang is Chairman of the Shenhua Group, China’s largest coal producer. His appointment marks the first time in WCA’s 28 year history that it will be led by a chairman from China, marking an exciting period of growth and opportunity for the WCA and the coal industry.
2 Comments
Posted January 23, 2013 at 4:51 pm | Permalink
Using coal will cause the UK to bust its carbon targets under the 2008 Climate Change Act. And worldwide continued use will lead to climate catastrophe, as sure as day follows night. Or does catastrophic climate change not matter compared to short-term profit?
Posted February 1, 2013 at 8:57 pm | Permalink
Coal continues to be used worldwide because it is affordable, reliable and widely available. According to the International Energy Agency , coal provides 42% of the world’s electricity and global use of coal is forecast to continue to rise. This is not about “short term profit” it is the economic reality that societies need affordable energy. Speaking at the annual ‘Coal Days’ event at the European Parliament in Brussels, Armond Cohen, head of the environmental NGO the Clean Air Taskforce, made the point that we need to reconcile the reality of economic growth and climate change, highlighting that “…coal is going to be the foundation of world economic growth”.
Acknowledging the vital role coal plays doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to the challenges we face from climate change. Quite the opposite, it should focus our attention on how we can make meaningful steps towards meeting climate targets today. Simply improving the efficiency of existing coal-fired power plants from 34% to 40% – something achievable with existing technology – we could remove 2 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 emissions. What does this mean? 2Gt is the equivalent of running the Kyoto Protocol three times over, or the EU Emissions Trading Scheme for the next 53 years or multiplying the world’s existing solar capacity by 195. And this is before we even look at the potential offered by carbon capture and storage technology.
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