Garzweiler surface mine

{{Infobox mine

| name = Garzweiler mine

| image = Garzweiler surface mine, October 2018, -02.jpg

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| caption = Panoramic view of Tagebau Garzweiler

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| country = Germany

| products = Lignite

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| owner = RWE

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File:Rheinisches Braunkohlerevier DE.png

The Tagebau Garzweiler ({{IPA|de|ˈtaːɡəbaʊ̯ ˈɡaʁt͜sˌʋaɪ̯lɐ}}) is a surface mine ({{langx|de|Tagebau}}) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSE9jg_N4-IC&q=Garzweiler+mine&pg=PA216 | title=International Encyclopedia of International Politics | publisher=Taylor & Francis | date=2002 | access-date=2013-05-26 | author=Barry, John | pages=216| isbn=9780415202855 }} The mine currently has a size of {{convert|48|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and got its name from the village of {{ill|Garzweiler|de}} which previously existed at this location. The community was moved to a section of Jüchen with the same name.Rolf Sevenich: Garzweiler II. Kersting, Aachen 1996, {{ISBN|3-928047-12-4}}.

The open-pit mine

File:Garzweiler Tagebau-1230.jpgs in Garzweiler surface mine]]

The mine is located west of Grevenbroich and exploitation is progressing towards Erkelenz. Mining was originally limited to the {{convert|66|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} Garzweiler I area located east of the A 44 motorway. Mining in the {{convert|48|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} Garzweiler II area started in 2006 and is estimated to take until around 2045 to fully exploit both sectors. The lignite is used for power generation at nearby power plants such as NeurathHambachgruppe: Verheizte Heimat – Der Braunkohletagebau und seine Folgen. Aachen 1985, {{ISBN|3-924007-14-4}} ([http://netzbege.de/downloads/198501-verheizteheimat.pdf PDF]{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}) and Niederaußem. In 2015, 1500 protesters took part in civil disobedience against the mine on the basis that it is Europe’s biggest source of CO₂ emissions. Around 1000 people entered the coal mine and all of the diggers in its pit were brought to a standstill.{{Cite web |last=350.org |date=2023-09-06 |title=Organising Civil Disobedience for Newcomers |url=https://commonslibrary.org/organising-civil-disobedience-for-newcomers/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}

It is not yet known what effect the plan to phase out all coal-fired power plants in Germany by 2038 will have on the Garzweiler lignite mine system.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-coal-power-20190126-story.html |title=Germany to close all 84 of its coal-fired power plants, will rely primarily on renewable energy |author-last=Kirschbaum |author-first=Erik |date=January 26, 2019 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=January 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130002321/https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-coal-power-20190126-story.html |archive-date=2019-01-30 |url-status=live |quote=Germany, one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal, will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change, a government commission said Saturday.}}

Traffic

The A 44 and A 61 motorways that crossed the planned mine area were affected as well. The A 44 was closed in 2005, dismantled in 2006 and traffic rerouted to the widened A 61 and A 46 motorways. In 2017, as the mine expanded to the west, the A 61 was closed with traffic diverted onto a stretch of newly built A 44n to the east of its original route. As of January 2023, there will be no restoration of previous traffic infrastructure efficiency as stated before, as the part of A 61 which served as connection between two major motorway junctions (Mönchengladbach-Wanlo and Jackerath, respectively) won't be rebuilt after mining efforts are set to come to an end in 2030.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-02 |title=Nach Kohleausstieg: A61 zwischen Wanlo und Jackerath wird doch nicht wiederhergestellt |url=https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/rheinland/autobahn-jackerath-wanlo-wiederherstellung-rwe-100.html |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=www1.wdr.de |language=de}}

Displacement of people

In the early 1980s, it is estimated that more than 30,000 people had to be moved for the Garzweiler mine.Aben, T.T., Kroonen, K.J., Piket, J.J. & Puts, P.J.P. (2021) Make a little space for the human race. Retrieved 8 December 2021. These people had to leave their houses and move. Plans for Garzweiler II required that 12 more towns would have to be removed, with around 12,000 more people being relocated. This has caused many controversies, resulting in residents protesting to save the respective towns from demolition.

References

External links

[http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/de/1140420/umsiedlung/tagebau-rekultivierung/tagebaue-genehmigte-abbaufelder/tagebau-garzweiler/ Information on Tagebau Garzweiler on the RWE website (German)]

Category:Coal mines in Germany

Category:Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia

Category:Open-pit mines

Category:RWE