Paddy Tipping presses for more UK coal production

Paddy Tipping contributed to a debate on energy prices with the following:

Reliable indigenous affordable fuel supplies can reduce costs. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to support UK Coal? In particular, when will he make an announcement on the loan guarantee application at Harworth colliery?

Paddy Tipping is understandably concerned about the extreme reliance of the UK on gas as an energy source. With North Sea gas running out rapidly, this is increasingly imported, and as recent shortages have shown, the countries across which it is transported are likely to use it to meet their own needs first. One solution that Paddy Tipping is keen on is to encourage (subsidise) UK coal production. Coal normally would produce considerably more CO2 than gas, when used for electricity generation, but new 'clean coal' technologies can offset this.