Green gas

摘要

With 5.2 million inhabitants, the Ruhr area is one of the most important industrial regions in Europe. The opening ceremony for one of the largest mine gas recovery units in the Ruhr area took place at the end of last year in Bochum, one of the region's major cities at the heart of the Ruhr area. The enormous economic development and present importance of the Ruhr area has gone hand in hand with coal mining. The- Ruhr area has been characterised not only by heavy industry (particularly steel production) but also by the unique symbiosis of coal and steel. It has provided the basis for hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Ruhr area both directly in coal mining and steel production as well as indirectly in industry and services. Just as coal mining in the region reached its peak in 1956 there were also signs of a crisis looming. Alternative and cheaper fuels, such as imported coal, oil and gas, began to make inroads into the market and Ruhr coal was the loser. Today only a few active mines remain.