Coal in Turkey
[1] The heavily subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the country's electricity[2] and emits a third of Turkey's greenhouse gases.
Coal is a major contributor to air pollution, and damages health across the nation, being burnt even in homes and cities.
[11] Turkey is bidding to host the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in which getting agreement on coal phase-out will be very important.
[15] By 1875 the Ottoman Navy had become the third largest in the world and expansion of the mines attracted workers from outside the area, despite the dangerous conditions.
[16] The mines in Zonguldak were shelled by Russia during World War I (WW1) to disrupt coal supply to Ottoman and German ships.
[23] The nascent environmental movement in Turkey was unable to prevent many more coal-fired power stations being built, but did stop some.
[26] Starting in the 19th century, stoves took the place of wood burning ovens in traditional Anatolian houses.
Imports of natural gas started in the late 1980s[27] and by the 2020s the pipeline distribution network had been extended to over 80% of the population.
[28] However, due to energy poverty, some of those people still use coal[29] and the resulting air pollution causes illness and premature deaths.
In the 2020s, in some provinces coal is still used for heating including public buildings,[31] especially in rural areas, and even occasionally for cooking,[32] although electricity and bottled gas are available everywhere.
[60] Opencast mining of lignite can destroy forest land, as although soil must be stored by law, it can degrade before reforestation.
[67] According to the Eleventh Development Plan (2019-2023): "In order to reduce the import dependence and current accounts deficit in energy, exploration, generation and R & D activities will be increased for high potential domestic resources such as geothermal and shale gas, especially lignite.
"[68] The Istanbul Policy Center estimates that every year in Turkey, the mining and burning of coal causes at least 2,800 premature deaths, 637,000 working days to be lost, and 3.6 billion euros in additional costs.
[73] According to a 2022 study the small number of workers in trade unions and the widespread use of subcontractors contribute to poor working conditions.
[76] The government has restricted access to workplace accident statistics, but coal mining is thought to be the most accident-prone sector of the economy.
[84] There is a pollutant release and transfer register, but as of September 2024 no years are publicly searchable because it is not yet technically complete, and it is not known what exemptions will be granted.
[94]: 4 Air pollution from coal-fired power stations is damaging public health,[96]: 48 and it is estimated that a coal phase-out by 2030 instead of by the 2050s would save over 100,000 lives.
As a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Aichi Target 3), Turkey committed to phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies, including those to fossil fuels, by 2020.
[125] Lignite fields have been transferred to Imbat Madencilik, Fernas Holding, Demir Export and construction group Yapi Tek.
[154] Many local communities strongly oppose coal power stations[155] and mines,[156] sometimes taking legal action against them.
[157] From the late 2000s, residents of Amasra strongly fought against the establishment of a coal-fired power station near the city; it was cancelled.
[161] In 2021 inhabitant of İkizköy village continue to protest and filed a lawsuit: they claim that a permit to cut down Akbelen Forest to expand a lignite mine should not have been granted without an environmental impact assessment.
[162] The company (part owned by Limak Holding) says that Akbelen was allocated to the coal mine when the Kemerköy and Yeniköy power plants were built, and that the General Directorate of Forestry defined it as an "industrial plantation area for 2019".
[163] The Green Party is calling for an end to coal burning, and all fossil fuel use to be phased out by 2050,[164] but has been barred from the 2023 general election.
[170] The World Bank has proposed general objectives and estimated the cost, but has suggested government do far more detailed planning.
[171] A 2020 study of coal-fired residential heating in Turkey's 3rd largest city İzmir estimated the cost of replacing it versus the reduction in illness and premature deaths.
[30] Five old plants (Afşin-Elbistan A, Seyitömer, Tunçbilek, Kangal and Çatalağzı) were closed in 2020 because they did not meet new pollution limits[172] but were all restarted later in the year.
[175] In terms of energy resources, Spain is more similar, having hydropower and abundant sunshine, and its transition away from coal could also be a model.
[181] Due to the complex geology of the Zonguldak basin, hard coal production in Turkey is insignificant, heavily subsidised and labour-intensive.
[183] Despite this, as of 2020[update], Turkey had not implemented a just transition policy,[184] although the government spoke in favor of it in 2015[185] and it is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development[186] and environmental organisations such as Greenpeace.
