The coal file vol.2: Das Braunkholeland

The Coal File is an ongoing documentary project focused on the European energy production from coal. Divided in chapters, it started in 2015 with an analysis of the italian landscape, and continues between 2016 and 2017 in Germany.

The Coal Industry in the Rhine Valley

One of the most relevant area in Europe for the production and the consumption of coal is the Rhine valley area, few kilometers west from Köln. Endless lignite surface mines makes entire towns to be demolished and built in other areas. Artificial hills covers the old exhausted mines, and are now in use for agriculture and wind power turbines. Big coal plants are disseminated in the area, including the biggest coal plant in the world, Neurath, taller than the famous gothic catedral of Köln, the third tallest church ever built.