Impacts of lignite and opencast mines - Stop the exploitation and foster the renewables!
The use of coal as an energy ressource has reached a new peak in Germany. The conversion into electricity of lignite, in parts of Germany, has caused a per capita CO2 emission higher than in the US.
My region, Brandenburg, has a long history as lignite-mining area and a lot of villages had to vanish. Instead, now you see wide ranges of former opencast mines. Whole surfaces disappeared, forests, lakes and villages.
Despite the fact that brown coal power stations are very inefficient. These power stations, that are currently running in Brandenburg, only have an efficiency of 35% - 45%. Nonetheless, the conversion into electricity of lignite, causes a massive amount of climate-damaging CO2 - the power plant ,Jänscherwalde‘ belongs even to the most dirty power plants in Europe.
Furthermore, the exploitation of lignite has a high waste of water. To cool the power plants in summer, a third of the whole water from the river ,Spree‘ is needed and therefore lost.
Due to the cone of depression the hydrologic balance of this region is dysfunctional for many decades. Besides comes the demand to fill up the opencast mines.
They will acidify if they don‘t get additional water from above.
For a tourist region depending on water, this is a heavy burden.
The lignite in my region is converted by Vattenfalll, a Swedish state company, who runs several nuclear- and brown coal power plants in Germany. Brandenburg for instance, has no need for this fossil energy. This state is one of the pioneers for wind energy who could, in theory, cover up the total requirements of the Brandenburg households with energy. Through expansion and adcancement of solar- and wind ernergy, 100% renewable energies in Brandenburg aren‘t no longer a Utopia.
The exploited lignite from Brandenburg, is mainly been exportet and grants the companies million profits. But unfortunately no jobs for the region: From originally 40.000 people, working in the lignite sector in 1992, are now obviously few left.
Vattenfall itself speaks from 7.000 workers, but this number is only artificially enhanced, because it counts also employess that doesn‘t work in this region or not directly within the lignite sector. Even the Brandenburg government expect a decrease of 4.000 further jobs, till 2030 in the lignite sector. In comparison stands a number of 11.500 employees in Brandenburg who are already working in the renewables sector -and this trends keeps on.
It was many times said, that the previous village to be remove, would be the last village that would became a victim of the shovel dredger. In this believe new people moved to the region and were desperately disappointed when they noticed that the mining areas were exceeded.
And the news didn‘t get better - iron clogging and suphite pollution in the rivers and increasing health impairments outline, that there is no alternative to a lignite phase-out and the stop of opencast mines.
