Britse artsen: ‘Stop snel met alle kolencentrales’

21 oktober 2016Britse artsen hebben opgeroepen alle Britse kolencentrales te sluiten. ‘Klimaatverandering en luchtverontreiniging zijn beide belangrijke bedreigingen van de gezondheid’. ‘Stop snel met de kolencentrales, uiterlijk in 2025.’

De deadline (2025) die de artsen noemen voor de totale uitfasering correspondeert overigens met een door de Britse regering geopperde deadline.

Uit een bericht van The Guardian
schermafdruk-2016-10-21-06-46-15‘(…) Groups representing Britain’s 600,000 doctors and health professionals say it is “imperative” to phase out coal rapidly to improve health and reduce NHS costs. The doctors and nurses say tackling outdoor air pollution from traffic and power stations would cut climate emissions, reduce air pollution, and deliver a powerful boost to the nation’s health. “Climate change and air pollution are both major health threats,” says the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change in a report. “They share a common driver: the combustion of fossil fuels. Pollution from coal plants alone costs the UK as much as £3.1bn each year in human health impacts.”
The group of 15 health bodies includes seven royal colleges of medicine and the British Medical Association.Pollution from coal plants causes many serious health conditions including stroke, coronary heart disease and lung cancer. It disproportionally affects children and kills more people than road accidents , says the report. (…)’

‘Stroke, heart attacks and lung cancer mean coal power plants must go’

Uit een bericht van de UK Health Alliance on Climate Change
‘(…) The report outlines six key steps that the Government and the UK health sector must take to improve air quality and tackle climate change in a coherent way:

  1. Increase cross-departmental collaboration to promote a joined-up approach to tackling air pollution and climate change
  2. Phase-out coal power stations by 2025
  3. Expand existing clean air zones and extend their use to other cities
  4. Better monitor air pollution in areas where the most vulnerable populations live
  5. Retain or improve air quality standards that the previous EU regulations afforded us
  6. Better inform and support health professionals to take local action and provide advice to patients (…)’

Uit een persbericht van de UK Health Alliance on Climate Change
‘(…) Dr Richard Horton, Editor-in-chief of The Lancet, said: “The phase out of coal use is an essential step towards creating a sustainable energy policy for the UK. It is also a vital co-benefit for health—ending coal use will deliver long-lasting health and environmental dividends for the British population. Life expectancies will be prolonged, disease and disabilities reduced, and future risks to health diminished. This is an opportunity to be seized.”
Janet Davies, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Chief Executive & General Secretary, said: “Cutting air pollution from coal will greatly benefit the lives of many people with long-term chronic health conditions and help to protect the health of future generations. Tackling air pollution and climate change will have numerous health benefits but it requires a joined-up approach from Government to ensure the health impacts are better recognised and fully realised.”
Jonathan Griggs, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine and Fellow of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), says: “Known as the ‘invisible killer’, coal is one of the most important public health threats. Children are particularly vulnerable, and air pollution from burning coal has also been linked to low birth weight and pre-term delivery as a result of maternal exposure during pregnancy. The phase-out of coal is a double win for tackling the twin health threats of air pollution and climate change.” (…)’

Uit Energy UK
‘(…) In the UK, according to the Digest of the United Kingdom’s Energy Statistics, approximately 30% of electricity supply in 2014 came from coal- fired power stations. In November 2015 the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change announced proposals, subject to consultation, to close the remaining coal-fired power stations by 2025.
Working coal powered stations:

  • Aberthaw B – Owned by RWE
  • Cottam – Owned by EDF
  • Drax – Owned by Drax
  • Eggborough – Owned by Eggborough
  • Fiddlers Ferry – Owned by SSE
  • Ratcliffe – Owned by Uniper
  • Rugeley –Owned by Engie
  • Uskmouth – Owned by SSE
  • West Burton A – Owned by EDF (…)’

Bronnen
The Guardian, 19 oktober 2016: British doctors and health professionals call for rapid coal phase-out
UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, 18 oktober 2016: A Breath of Fresh Air. Addressing Climate Change and Air Pollution Together for Health
UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, persbericht, 18 oktober 2016: Stroke, heart attacks and lung cancer mean coal power plants must go, say health bodies (pdf, 3 pag.)
UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, rapport: A Breath of Fresh Air. Addressing Climate Change and Air Pollution Together for Health (pdf, 28 pag.)
Energy UK, Coal Generation

Auteur: Redactie

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