Lusatia’s lignite mining companies advised to emancipate from coal

The mining companies of Germany’s eastern coal mining area Lusatia should become more independent of the fossil energy source and diversify their businesses , Brandenburg’s state minister for economy & energy, Albrecht Gerber, has said in a press release. “The companies have to develop new products and unlock new international markets to become more independent from the lignite industry at home,” Gerber said. The minister argues that coal, by far the region’s most important industry, and other fossil energy sources will gradually lose importance in Germany in the next years. A study commissioned by a government agency found that many of the region’s energy and mining companies were already preparing for a post-coal age, for instance by developing roller-coaster technology for leisure parks or shipping container industry for the German Railway company.

Find the press release in German here.

See the CLEW factsheet Coal in Germany for background.