Part V: Svalbard and coal

Svalbard is one of the world’s most northern archipelagos. It consists of a large island of Spitsbergen (a historical name of the archipelago, in Dutch, it means 'sharp-peaked mountains') and a group of smaller and mostly glaciated islands. Discovered in the 16th century the archipelago lacked soil which in combination with the harsh climate provided no forests or agricultural areas suitable for plant cultivation. Consequently, the presence of its early residents, Dutch, Scandinavian, or Pomor (Russian Orthodox) whale hunters and trappers was always temporary. Svalbard provided hunting grounds but was unsuitable for permanent settlement – it had remained terra nullius (‘no man’s land’) until the 19th century, albeit most northern European countries made claims to the territory.

Millions of years before, primarily in the Carboniferous period (360-300M years ago), but also in the Paleogene (66-43M years ago) Svalbard’s climate was much milder and the archipelago had rich vegetation and a swampy landscape. Plants grew, died, and decomposed, and were subsequently buried under the beds of mud and sand. The weight of the overlying sediments raised both the pressure and the temperature and over a long time, the biological remains were transformed into coal seams. Tectonic uplift and glacial rebound have moved the seams upwards, while glaciation has eroded the uppermost rock layers. Since the end of the last ice age glacial retreat has exposed the coal seams near the surface. Svalbard hosts deposits of both bituminous coal, used for heating and electricity generation, and coking coal, used for steelmaking.

Coal mining on Svalbard began at the end of the 19th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognised Norwegian sovereignty and established Svalbard as a free economic and demilitarized zone, and legalised investments from other nations. In the 1930s the population consisted of about 2,000-3,000 people, mostly Norwegians and Russians, who were producing ~500-1,000kt of coal per year.?Svalbard has never been a top global producer (in 1938 USA alone produced 450Mt, the UK 244Mt), but its mines have produced more coal than all other Scandinavian countries combined. During the 2nd World War, the mines were destroyed, and the archipelago was abandoned to ensure Germans could not benefit from the resources. Soon after the war ended, the archipelago was repopulated, mining restarted and has continued ever since. In 2007, 484 people were working in the mining sector, 211 in tourism, and 111 in education. Total coal production reached 4Mt, generating a revenue of ~NOR 2bln (US$350m), which was 4x higher than the combined revenue from tourism and research. Since then, mining has phased down and in 2022 only 130kt of coal was produced. The last Norwegian mine will be closed in 2025.

All of today’s settlements started as coal mining towns and Ny-Alesund, the northernmost civilian settlement, is an example of a successful transformation – it serves as an international research station inhabited by 40 people in winter and >100 in summer. The town amenities include the northernmost hotel, store, post office (civilian), restaurant, café, and a stretch of railway (now disused).

Opinions expressed are solely my own.