Restoring Coal Mining-Affected Areas: The Missing Ecosystem Services

Abstract

Multi-criteria decision analysis and cost-benefit analysis, either individually or in combination, have been used as the preferred tools to develop ecosystem services valuation, presenting significant discrepancies and variations between the calculated values. To counteract this problem, a new framework was developed based on a hierarchical weighting of the non-provisioning ecosystem services, using biodiversity as the reference ecosystem service since it is the easiest to apprehend. Their monetisation was made using the average price of EU carbon dioxide emission allowances during 2019 and 2020, obtaining reasonable and comparable results in line with what was expected for the study region. However, the revised EU Emissions Trading System Directive, which will apply from 2021–2030, generated a price escalation of carbon allowances, making it necessary to adjust or rethink the proposed framework. To achieve this goal, the paper proposes the introduction of new vectors or “missing ecosystem services” to counterbalance efforts to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions without necessarily removing humans from the equation: welfare and human health. As the linkages regarding ecosystem health, ecological restoration and human health are not well known, only welfare was incorporated into the framework. The results were highly satisfactory, in line with what was expected for the study region and the ones obtained before the price escalation of carbon allowances that started in 2021.

The Cost Reduction Analysis of Green Hydrogen Production from Coal Mine Underground Water for Circular Economy

“…To protect rivers and watercourses, constant monitoring of discharged water and pollutants dissolved in it by specialized services of SRK S.A. is necessary [1,15]. The ideal situation would be to completely eliminate these emissions from the environment [37,38,41]. So as to support the operation of the pumping station, 11 post-mining facilities are left, and the unnecessary ones are liquidated.…”

“…The management of mine and rainwater combined with the development of the concept for the pilot solution for energy self-sufficiency in an exemplary mine water pumping station was the main research goal. Additionally, a very important design element was to reduce the negative impact of polluted water emissions on the environment and increase the financial efficiency of the project [37,38]. The process of pumping water from abandoned mines is inherently expensive.…”

Hydrogen Storage and Combustion for Blackout Protection of Mine Water Pumping Stations

“…Energy evaluation criteria were set for the primary mode of pumping station operation. When operating in the emergency mode, the greatest importance is given to satisfying the main sentence, i.e., blackout resistance, and the importance of energy criteria is no longer so important [9,10].…”

“…Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopal ń S.A. (SRK S.A.-Mines Restructuring Company, Bytom, Poland), which carries out liquidation and post-liquidation activities at former coal mine sites in Poland, aims to reduce negative environmental externalities as much as possible [7,8]. One way to reduce the impact is to generate energy from RESs [9][10][11]. The use of RESs depends on weather conditions, which poses many challenges [12,13].…”

Comprehensive Method for Estimating the Time and Expenditures Required for Mine Liquidation Processes of Business Processes

“…In order to reach climate neutrality, European Union countries should make ready to stop using fossil fuels [1,2,3]. One of the ways to restructure the mining industry is to liquidate profitless mining plants.…”