The US Department of Energy has announced that it will allocate up to $450 million (£360m) to fund ‘green’ projects on current and former coal mines.

The initiative is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating new jobs in areas where coal mines are located.

The programme will also establish how mines can be effectively utilised for clean energy.

The project will build upon the $14 billion (£11.2bn) plan to support communities affected by the energy transition.

The funding is expected to generate up to 90GW of clean energy, enough to power around 30 million homes across the US.