Written question asked by Mike Penning (Conservative) on Monday, 12 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 December 2005. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Thursday, 15 December 2005 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Coal Mining

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much (a) deep mined and (b) opencast coal was produced in the UK in (i) the most recent 12 months for which figures are available and (ii) 1995; and what forecast he has made of production in 2015.

Answer: Over the 12-month period to September 2005 UK deep mined coal production was 9.6 million tonnes and UK surface mined coal production was 11.3 million tonnes.In 1995, UK deep mined coal production was 35.2 million tonnes and UK surface mined coal production was 16.4 million tonnes.This Department does not produce regular forecasts for UK coal production. A study commissioned by DTI in 2004 as part of its work on the large combustion plant directive entitled ““UK Coal Production Outlook: 2004–16””. The report projected that the UK's total coal production could be sustained within a band of 21–29 million tonnes in 2010 and 15–21 million tonnes in 2016.The outturn figures for the 12 months to September 2005 suggest that the lower figures in these projections may be between 2 and 3 million tonnes too high.

Secondary information