Open-Pit Coal Mining on The Card6 May 2025 08:22
Bangladesh’s Predicament Deepens as Asia Braces for Expansion of Fossil Fuel Corporations
Bangladesh’s recent energy policies reveal a troubling shift toward expanding fossil fuel projects, including open-pit coal mining and LNG imports, despite ongoing issues with energy security and high costs. These developments, driven by political and international influences, threaten to deepen reliance on outdated fossil fuels while sidelining renewable energy efforts.
Open-Pit Coal Mining on The Card
In a show of its desperation to facilitate fossil fuel expansion, the interim government revived a controversy settled almost two decades ago with the sacrifice of three lives in a rare protest against open-pit coal mining in Phulbari of Dinajpur, a northern Bangladesh district.
Ignoring the 2006 agreement that the then government had signed to oppose open-pit coal mining, the interim government recently hosted a discussion on the mining’s potential benefits. The open-pit coal mining involves the UK-based Asia Energy, which changed its name to Global Coal Management after facing the Phulbari resistance.
In February 2012, concerned by a move by the past Awami League government in favour of open-pit coal mining at Phulbari, a group of experts from the United Nations noted that the move would displace an estimated 50,000–1,30,000 people and affect 2,20,000 others by drying up wells. The UN experts noted that the project would destroy some 12,000 hectares of productive agricultural land, waterways supporting 1,000 fisheries, and nearly 50,000 fruit trees.
In the controversial Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan, prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the previous government emphasised extracting domestic coal to ensure energy security, sourcing 30% of power from coal in 2031 and 35% in 2041.
https://energytracker.asia/bangladeshs-predicament-deepens/#:~:text=Bangladesh's%20recent%20energy%20policies%20reveal,energy%20security%20and%20high%20costs.
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