Garzweiler surface mine

Garzweiler mine
	Panoramic view of Tagebau Garzweiler
Location
	Garzweiler mine
Country	Germany
Coordinates	51°03′15″N 6°30′35″E / 51.05417°N 6.50972°E
Production
Products	Lignite
Owner
Company	RWE

The Tagebau Garzweiler (German pronunciation: [ˈtaːɡəbaʊ̯ ˈɡaʁt͜sˌʋaɪ̯lɐ]) is a surface mine (German: Tagebau) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite.^[1] The mine currently has a size of 48 km² (19 sq mi) and got its name from the village of Garzweiler [de] which previously existed at this location. The community was moved to a section of Jüchen with the same name.^[2]

The open-pit mine

Bucket wheel excavators in Garzweiler surface mine

The mine is located west of Grevenbroich and exploitation is progressing towards Erkelenz. Mining was originally limited to the 66 km² (25 sq mi) Garzweiler I area located east of the A 44 motorway. Mining in the 48 km² (19 sq mi) 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 Neurath^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

Displacement of people

In the early 1980s, it is estimated that more than 30,000 people had to be moved for the Garzweiler mine.^[7] 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

^ Barry, John (2002). International Encyclopedia of International Politics. Taylor & Francis. p. 216. ISBN 9780415202855. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
^ Rolf Sevenich: Garzweiler II. Kersting, Aachen 1996, ISBN 3-928047-12-4.
^ Hambachgruppe: Verheizte Heimat – Der Braunkohletagebau und seine Folgen. Aachen 1985, ISBN 3-924007-14-4 (PDF^{[permanent dead link‍]})
^ 350.org (2023-09-06). "Organising Civil Disobedience for Newcomers". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-10-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Kirschbaum, Erik (January 26, 2019). "Germany to close all 84 of its coal-fired power plants, will rely primarily on renewable energy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved January 27, 2019. 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.
^ "Nach Kohleausstieg: A61 zwischen Wanlo und Jackerath wird doch nicht wiederhergestellt". www1.wdr.de (in German). 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
^ 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.