Britain lost a king this week. Not that you would know it. In a nation that typically commemorates significant historical events with grandiose parades and fanfare, the passing of this particular king has gone largely unreported. The Royal Navy did not pull a gun carriage to transport the coffin to its final resting place, nor did the remaining members of the royal family lead a solemn funeral cortege. In reality, there was no period of national grief. Everything continued just as it always did.

The ruling class was actively celebrating the death of this mighty king. ‘King coal is dead. Long live his clean successors,’ the conservative politician Lord Deben declared. The former chair of the Climate Change Committee continued, ‘This is the day we finally recognise that we can have power without it costing the earth.’

The United Kingdom shut down its last coal-fired power plant a few days ago. The first coal-fired power station in history opened in London in 1882, marking the start of a 142-year industry that ended with the closure of Nottinghamshire’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. The UK is now the first developed nation in the G7 to have eliminated coal from its economy.

For nearly 200 years, coal has been indispensable to British industry. Coal has influenced Britain’s political and economic landscape more than any other fossil fuel when it comes to powering the country. At its height, over a million people were employed by this cheap, plentiful resource. Able to endure extremely high temperatures with a higher energy density than wood, it propelled the Industrial Revolution. Thus it was dubbed ‘black gold’ when large coal deposits were discovered in South Wales’ Rhondda and Cyon valleys in the mid 1800s. The amount of coal produced rose dramatically between 1800 and 1850, from 10 million metric tonnes to just over 70 million tonnes, a staggering 600 per cent increase.

It hit a record-breaking high of 292 million tonnes by 1913. Many highly skilled jobs were created as a result. At Rhondda, miners made up 25 per cent of the population in 1911.

That percentage has practically disappeared as we move away from fossil fuels. The UK mining industry currently employs just 700 people.

Since the 19th century, coal has been the primary energy source in Britain. In 1900, it accounted for 90 per cent of the country’s energy needs, and as late as 2012, it fuelled almost 40 per cent of the electricity grid. In our insane, desperate attempt to reach net zero, it has now been sentenced to death.

It spells the end for accessible, affordable energy. It is business’s death knell. Britain’s much-vaunted manufacturing industry will perish at the hands of Ed Miliband. Death by a thousand carbon-free cuts. The closure of the Nottinghamshire plant comes on the back of the announcement that the Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales is to close its last coal-fired blast furnace, resulting in the loss of around 2,500 jobs. To comply with net-zero targets, Tata Steel, the Indian conglomerate that acquired ownership of the plant in 2007, is replacing them with electric-powered furnaces that emit less carbon dioxide.

The unions are furious. Alasdair McDiarmid, Assistant General Secretary of Community, a union representing steel workers, described the decision to close the coal-fired furnaces as ‘short-sighted’, ‘absolutely devastating’, and one that would cause ‘irreparable damage to the UK’s steelmaking capability’.

The 17th-century ironmonger Abraham Darby invented the process of converting iron ore into pig iron, which is required to create high-quality ‘virgin’ steel. A fuel with high carbon content is needed for the reaction. Coal is the best reductant because of its high energy density. To put it bluntly, when Port Talbot reopens with the electric arc furnaces, it will not be producing premium steel.

Because of devolution, the Welsh government now sets environmental policy. The Labour-led devolved administration established a non-binding target in 2016 to reduce carbon emissions by 3 per cent annually. If projections come true, the new electric furnaces will lead to a significant decrease in emissions in Wales – roughly 15 per cent, with a corresponding decrease in the UK’s overall emissions of roughly 1.5 per cent.

If electric arc furnaces reduce carbon emissions, this will only be possible if they are added to the balance sheet of another country, most likely China. China produces 64 per cent of the world’s pig iron, which is needed to create high-quality steel. It would mean that the UK would need to import more steel. When you consider the carbon intensity of Chinese electricity –  61 per cent of which is generated by coal-powered stations – we are essentially outsourcing our emissions.

China’s CO2 emissions have increased by 13 per cent over the last ten years. One startling statistic reveals that China released 83 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2014 and 2021, compared to 79 billion between 1750 and 2021, which is more than the United Kingdom has released into the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

A £500-million subsidy is being given to Tata to help offset the inflated cost of renewable energy.

Whereas renewables are heavily subsidised, coal is cheap. That explains why British power prices are among the most expensive in the developed world. Industrial electricity costs are about half as high in France and Germany. There’s not a lot of sun here, but there is an abundance of coal. It’s simple supply and demand. British industry cannot compete with China. Reopening the mines would supply the grid with cheap and reliable power. Nuclear power plants take years to come on-line; of the five currently in operation, four are scheduled to close in 2028. While renewable energy cannot be stored because of its high cost, coal can.

It’s a statement of intent from a Labour government at war with the interests of the working classes. According to GMB union leader Gary Smith, the government must stop ‘decarbonisation through deindustrialisation’. He is right. British industry is being decimated by ideological zealots.

The king is dead; long live the king!