Coal-fired power stations will rely on imports from countries such as Russia. Photograph: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

As the controversy over building new coal-fired power stations in 'low carbon' Britain heats up by the week, the defence for doing so relies more and more on 'energy security'.

Without so-far-unproven technology to capture and bury pollution out of harm's way, coal power is mankind's most carbon-polluting habit. To justify more if it, the UK government argued coal was a cheap back-up to unreliable renewables and fickle gas suppliers, and would protect jobs and investment in the industry. But costs of building the stations and buying the fuel are rising steeply, and a growing list of experts are arguing the UK can easily keep the lights on and create jobs and prosperity by investing in renewable energy and efficiency.

But reducing the country's dependence on gas from Russia, so the argument goes, is still vital to protect the country from future power cuts and economic gloom. So what to make of the latest figures published by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR)?

They show not only that seven out of 10 lumps of coal come from overseas, but that nearly half of those imports come from our same friends in Russia. Coal experts point out that, unlike gas which often travels down expensive fixed pipes, it is relatively easy to switch suppliers of their product, and Russia has only a fraction of the global market. In 2006, it was the sixth biggest producer but still supplied less than 5% of global consumption.

But more importantly a closer look at gas imports shows that the UK is not yet dependent on Russian gas either – its biggest supplier is Norway, and Russian gas comes in the mix through the European grid.

Gas might eventually be more of a risk, but reliance on Russian coal does seem to back-up those who argue that no fossil fuel is as politically neutral as wind (simply "it's there", as one campaigner says) or efficiency.

Whatever your preferred alternative, coal imports do seem to further weaken the government's increasingly fragile case for building unabated new coal power. If ministers do decide to press ahead, they might have some explaining to do.