Finding a role for coal
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
14.10.2014 12:00
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Finding a role for coal. John Beauchamp speaks to Paweł Smoleń, President of the European Association for Coal and Lignite.
With an EU Council meeting next week in Brussels set finalise the EU’s climate and energy policy, what role is there for coal in the EU’s energy mix?
Photo: Wikipedia
Photo: Glowimages
A European Council meeting in Brussels next week, on 23-24 October, will try and reach a consensus on CO2 emissions policy ahead of next year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.
One of the key topics which remains high on the agenda is the use of coal in the EU’s energy mix. While not a fashionable fuel, perhaps, it does form the backbone of Poland’s and much of the EU’s energy reserves.
At the 11th New Industry Congress in Warsaw, our reporter John Beauchamp met with Paweł Smoleń, President of the European Association for Coal and Lignite to discuss the role of coal and why we shouldn’t be so scared of this fuel.
"If Europeans are going to check-out [from combusiting coal], the coal in Europe will stay and the technology will provided from somewhere else, like China or other countries," Smoleń says.