Greece uses coal to escape energy crisis putting climate at risk

Greece believed it could shut down all of its coal-burning units by 2023 just a year ago. In Western Macedonia, which produces more than half the country’s electricity, it intended to construct one final coal plant this year.

By 2025, the brand-new Ptolemaida 5 plant would be powered by natural gas, another fossil fuel that contributes to pollution but is often less carbon-intensive than the lignite, or brown coal, that is found in this region of Greece.

Now the entire timeline is in ruins.

The 2023 deadline to stop using coal in all current facilities has been pushed back to 2025, and the new Ptolemaida facility likely needs to burn coal at least through 2028, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

And while Vladimir Putin closes the faucets flowing to the EU, Greece plans to increase its coal mining output by 50% over the next two years to make up for the lack of natural gas.

The changes are already obvious. Coal produced 253.9 gigawatt hours (GWh) of power in June 2021. In June of this year, coal was accountable for 468.1 GWh, almost twice as much.

And all of this is happening as the nation battles wildfires on both the mainland and its islands that are being fed by a sweltering heat wave that has been amplified by climate change, which is mostly caused by human activity in the burning of fossil fuels like coal.

People have been pulled from beaches after being rescued from burning homes, and business owners on islands like Lesbos are preparing for a difficult holiday season financially.

When the government’s goals are constantly shifting, it can be difficult to make important life decisions like where to live and work. It is currently not an option for Mitsaris to leave the village where he was born and reared.