There are lessons here in Spain for Australia's transition out of coal in the pursuit of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In 1990 Spain had about 45,000 coal miners. Now it has exited coal production completely.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In mid-2020 Spain closed eight of its 15 coal-fired power stations in a single whammy. Six more have since closed. Only one remains, a 1400MW station at As Pontes, on Spain's Atlantic coast.
We are in Spain visiting our son and his family. Just around the corner from their home in Madrid is the Institute for Just Transition, an initiative developed in haste in 2019 to alleviate the trauma in coal communities as mines closed. The institute has since secured funding from the European Union to manage Spain's exit from fossil fuels entirely. The latest batch of EU money totals $A1.4 billion and targets re-development programs in affected regions and the re-training of displaced workers.
Australia lags Europe in regard to planning an exit to fossil fuel mining and use. Labor's latest budget sketched an ambition to set up an Australia-wide Net Zero Authority. Presumably, as in Spain, the authority will supervise programs that help workers and regional communities cope with the transition to a net zero economy.
The who, what, where and how of the authority are yet to be revealed. What money the authority will have to spend is also unknown. One hopes the super profits of the Hunter's coal companies will be a major source.
Of course, there are obvious reasons Spain is well ahead of Australia in managing the exit from coal. Spain's coal mines and coal-fired power stations were inefficient. Spain had no coal export market. Electricity from solar, wind and hydro schemes in Spain quickly became cheaper than electricity generated by ageing thermal power stations.
The most telling lesson from Spain about transitioning from fossil fuels is there is no miracle pathway.
Problems remain, however. Despite having five active nuclear power plants, Spain has invested heavily in gas-fired power stations to fill the gap created by the closure of coal furnaces. In so doing, it has become reliant on gas fields in northern Africa linked to Spain via the Medgaz pipeline across the Mediterranean Sea near the Strait of Gibraltar.
Last year Spain sourced 42 per cent of its electricity from renewables. Yet Spain now sources 25 per cent of its electricity from gas. Having jumped out of coal, Spain has the task of substituting gas-fired electricity generation with renewables - without compromising grid stability - in order to reach its net zero ambition.
Spain has committed to developing a new transition program every five years. The most telling lesson from Spain about transitioning from fossil fuels is there is no miracle pathway.
Decarbonising an economy is a massive task, it is expensive, it is ongoing, and transition plans always need renewal. If cooking the planet was no big deal, you'd wonder about the cost and effort of meeting net zero goals by 2050.
Finally, a note on the geography of it all. Every place is different. For Spain, the impacts of the transition away from fossil fuels fall most on regional areas that are also suffering population decline.
The northern region of Asturias hosted around 100,000 coal industry jobs in the 1950s. A lack of alternative employment to jobs in coal and thermal power stations has seen the coal basin areas of Asturias suffer severe population decline, with the coal basin's population falling from 180,000 in the late 1970s to 120,000 in 2018.
In the Hunter, by contrast, the total regional population grows consistently and will do so well into the future.
A key task for a transition authority will be to ensure the Upper Hunter re-builds its economic viability to ensure population stability. This means investment in recovery of sustainable, rich agricultural lands and the restoration of the natural environment.
Muswellbrook and Singleton need once again to stand proudly as regional capitals, surrounded by viable towns and villages. The district needs to build a reputation as a lifestyle destination for footloose investors and tourists alike. Liveability and environmental enhancement are always central to the best regional development programs. They are universal and timeless.
Let's hope Australia's Net Zero Authority builds on the lessons of Spain and elsewhere and leaves a stunning legacy of successful transition for the Hunter.
Phillip O'Neill is professor of economic geography at Western Sydney University.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.
