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Turning Shuttered Coal Mines Into Solar Plants Could Add 300 GW of Renewable Energy by 2030: Report

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22 Jun, 2025

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Recently shuttered coal mines around the world can have new life as solar farms, potentially adding nearly 300 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy by 2030, a first-of-its-kind analysis by researchers from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) has found.

GEM’s Bright side of the mine report identified 312 surface coal mines that had been closed since 2020, as well as 134 that were likely to close by 2030. Together, these wastelands cover 2,250 square miles, reported The Guardian.

“Coal was once billed as the ‘buried sunshine’ of a prehistoric past. But the world has now entered an age of solar energy — a time when harnessing the sun has become more accessible, affordable, and environmentally sustainable than digging it up in fossil fuels,” a press release from GEM said.

Our new analysis finds that converting 446 coal mines could add nearly 300 GW of solar — equal to 15% of global capacity.

Most of this potential is concentrated in a few regions, highlighting where targeted action could deliver outsized clean energy gains.

globalenergymonitor.org/report/brigh…

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— Global Energy Monitor (@globalenergymon.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 9:33 AM

The world installed a record nearly 600 GW of solar capacity last year, and over 2,000 GW of utility-scale solar projects are currently in development. But these projects require widespread land use, and developers often find it hard to find prime locations that are not off limits or already being used. But there are vast tracts of scarred land across the globe in the form of abandoned coal mines that can be repurposed.

Since 2020, GEM has conducted a global survey of shut-down surface coal mines and those with planned closures by the end of the decade. The first-time analysis showed that more than 300 of these mines could house roughly 103 GW of photovoltaic (PV) solar capacity, while large operations that are scheduled to close could host another 185 GW across 127 sites.

Because they are already cleared and grid-adjacent, these abandoned mines are prime locations for renewables.

“If these potential solar projects came to fruition, the world could build almost 300 GW of solar capacity on mined out lands by the end of 2030. Uptake on that scale is equal to 15% of the solar that has already been built globally and would add enough solar capacity to inch the world one step closer to tripling renewables before the end of the decade,” GEM said.

2013 and 2025 satellite images of part of the Pingshuo Mining Area, which houses two operating surface coal mines, in Shanxi Province, China. Solar under development on the degraded mining land is expected to generate 160 MW. Global Energy Monitor

Some of the transitional projects have already begun. New data from GEM on coal-to-solar projects shows that there are 90 operational conversions with 14 GW of capacity in China, and 46 additional projects with nine GW of capacity currently in the planning stages.

“The coal-to-solar transition offers a rare chance to repair the environmental hazards and eyesores of open pits,” GEM said. “Constructing solar on upheaved lands isn’t just land reclamation — it’s a chance to align land restoration, clean energy goals, and local job creation.”

Strip mining has turned former wildlife habitats into polluted wastelands stripped of their topsoil. But if the sites were converted to house solar energy plants, they would be able to help the planet by generating enough renewable energy to power a country the size of Germany, the report said.

“The legacy of coal is written into the land, but that legacy does not have to define the future. The coalmine to solar transition is underway, and this potential is ready to be unlocked in major coal producers like Australia, the U.S., Indonesia and India,” said Cheng Cheng Wu, project manager for GEM’s energy transition tracker, as The Guardian reported. “Repurposing mines for solar development offers a rare chance to bring together land restoration, local job creation, and clean energy deployment in a single strategy. With the right choices, the same ground that powered the industrial era can help power the climate solutions we now urgently need.”

The post Turning Shuttered Coal Mines Into Solar Plants Could Add 300 GW of Renewable Energy by 2030: Report appeared first on EcoWatch.

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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