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Coal supplies a quarter of Turkey's primary energy,[1] and the country is one of the largest consumers in the world.[2] The heavily subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the country's electricity[3] and emits a third of Turkey's greenhouse gases.
Coal is a major contributor to air pollution, and damages health across the nation, being burnt even in homes and cities.[4] Most coal is burnt in power stations, and it is estimated that a phase out of coal power in Turkey by 2030 instead of by the 2050s would save over 100 thousand lives.[5] Flue gas emission limits are in place, but data from mandatory reporting is not made public.
Over 90% of coal mined in Turkey is lignite (brown coal),[1] which is more polluting than other types of coal.[6] Turkey's energy policy encourages mining lignite for coal-fired power stations in order to reduce gas imports;[3] and coal supplies over 40% of domestic energy production.[7] Coal burning peaked in 2018,[8] and mining in 2022 at about 100 million tonnes.[8] Most coal is imported,[9][10] as in contrast to local lignite production, Turkey imports most of its bituminous coal from Russia.[11] The largest coalfield in Turkey is Elbistan.[12] Turkey is bidding to host the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in which getting agreement on coal phase-out will be very important.[13]
- ^ a b "Türkiye - Countries & Regions". IEA. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ "Turkey's Nuclear Ambitions: Will It Finally Reduce Coal Dependence?". P.A. Turkey. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
- ^ a b "Coal". Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (Turkey). Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "Turkey failing to adopt international air quality standard values, groups say". Ahval. 30 March 2022.
Homes and businesses in many Turkish cities burn coal, including the cheap and highly polluting lignite, to produce energy for heating and other purposes.
- ^ Curing Chronic Coal: The health benefits of a 2030 coal phase out in Turkey (Report). Health and Environment Alliance. 2022.
- ^ "Lignite coal – health effects and recommendations from the health sector" (PDF). Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL). December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ Ersoy (2019), p. 5.
- ^ a b "Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources - Coal". enerji.gov.tr. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^ Yackley, Ayla Jean (3 March 2022). "Turkish inflation pushes past 54% as food and energy prices soar". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ "Social and Employment Impacts of Climate Change and Green Economy Policies in Türkiye". United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ Türkiye Electricity Review 2024 (PDF) (Report). Ember.
- ^ "Turkey transfers operating rights of seven coal fields to private companies". Hürriyet Daily News. 12 October 2018. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Coal will be a central pillar of COP31, wherever it's held". Reccessary. Retrieved 11 February 2025.