German energy giant RWE has begun dismantling a wind farm to make way for a further expansion of an open-pit lignite coal mine in the western region of North Rhine Westphalia.
One wind turbine has already been dismantled, with a further seven scheduled for removal to excavate an additional 15m to 20m tonnes of so-called 'brown' coal, the most polluting energy source.
In return, RWE had to agree to phase out coal in 2030, eight years before the previous deadline.
"The current climate emergency requires urgent and concerted efforts to accelerate the deployment of every single wind turbine, solar panel and heat pump that we can muster," said Fabian Hübner, a senior campaigner at Beyond Fossil Fuels, a German-based coalition of climate activists.
RWE and Germany's government have persistently justified the expansion of the so-called Garzweiler coal fields by pointing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis.
Some of the leading advocates of RWE's coal expansion plans come from the Green Party, one of three ruling parties in Germany's current 'traffic light' coalition with centre-left SPD and business-friendly FPD-party.
Researchers also said lignite coal is likely to end in 2030 anyway because it is rapidly becoming uneconomical compared to other cheaper energy sources such as solar and wind.
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