Coal mining in Australia

Australian energy resources (coal, natural gas and uranium) and the main export ports

The coal mining in Australia is an important economic factor in the country. In Australia , there are 10 percent of all coal reserves in the world. As a result, much of the coal can be exported, especially to East Asia. In 2016, coal worth AUD 40 billion was exported to Japan, India, EU, Korea and Taiwan. The high export dependency also means that the development of the coal industry , and thus an important area of ​​the Australian energy export economy, is heavily dependent on the global economy. 80% of Australian coal can be extracted from open-cast mining , while the global benchmark is 40%. The underground mining is much more expensive. This factor is a competitive advantage for Australian coal in the world market.

In 2018, around 486 million tons of coal were mined (bituminous hard coal and anthracite (hard coal), hard and soft lignite). In the accounting years of the Australian national budget from 1990/1991 to 2017/2018, coal mining in Australia doubled and coal exports also grew strongly during this period: Australia mined 510 million tons of coal from 2017/2018, of which around 75% (380 million tons) were exported, in 1990/1991 it was 55%. The value in 2018 was AUD 67 billion, a share of 3.5% of the nominal gross national product.

In a global comparison, Australia has the largest emissions of greenhouse gases per capita. Australia's fossil fuel mining produces about 57 tons of carbon dioxide per person per year (that's ten times the global average), and the country exports 7% of the world's fossil carbon dioxide potential. Due to the existing wealth of coal, a share of 77% of the total electrical energy in Australia was generated by coal-fired power plants in 2008/2009 .

Facts

The New Oakliegh Mine near Rosewood

Not only is Australia the world's largest coal exporter, but 54 percent of the country's energy was generated from coal in 2009. Australia is home to 10 percent of all the world's coal.

In Australia, coal-fired power plants are primarily used to generate electricity that emit carbon dioxide. From 1990 to 2009, carbon dioxide emissions in Australia increased by 43.9 percent. 77 percent of Australia's electricity is generated by burning coal.

The 24 coal-fired power plants in Australia are the largest Australian source of greenhouse gases . They emitted 186 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2000.

politics

The Loy Yang lignite power station , which generates a third of the base load in Victoria

Coal mining, export and power generation in Australia are often criticized by the environmental movement as burning coal creates carbon dioxide , which is believed to be responsible for global warming , sea ​​level rise and climatic effects in Australia.

Mainly two NGO organizations , Greenpeace Australia Pacific with their Plan Energy [R] evolution , and Beyond Zero Emissions , with their concept Zero Carbon Australia 2020 developed ideas according to which a switch to renewable energies would be possible. Greenpeace called for a change to a coal-based society, while other organizations currently see these proposals as neither a realistic alternative nor a necessity for the vast majority of Australian society, nor a significant economic and social benefit for those affected. Seam gas , a methane- based gas associated with various coal deposits, has been flared in the past but has been used increasingly to generate electricity in the past decade. The proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme the former ALP -Regierung of Kevin Rudd , which the report Garnaut Climate Change Review followed, would reduce the price of coal and the emissions trading (called emission trading scheme ) lids in Australia, but this large impact on would have the use of lignite for power generation in Australia (particularly in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria). Rudd's concept was controversial in public and within its own party and was fiercely opposed in particular by the Australian mining industry. This internal party dispute probably ultimately led to Rudd's resignation. One of the first official acts of the newly elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2007 was the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol .

Politics since 2010

Australia has the highest carbon dioxide emissions per head of the industrialized world. Julia Gillard's ALP government enacted the Clean Energy Act in 2011 . Accordingly, from July 2012 to 2015, a carbon dioxide tax of AUD 23.8 per tonne emitted was levied on the 500 largest energy consumers in Australia (mainly the industries affected: mining, aviation, metal and energy production) .

Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott , who replaced the ALP government, took office in September 2013 and overturned the Carbon Tax initiated by the government around Julia Gillard. The new government is again using coal as an energy source. As a result, investments in renewable energies have decreased by around 70 percent compared to 2013. At the G-20 summit , held in Brisbane in November 2014, Abbott announced that he would continue to pursue this course and not participate in the Green Climate Fund. Abott's successor was Malcolm Turnbull , who, under pressure from conservative internal party opponents, withdrew a draft law under which Australia would have undertaken to reduce its climate-damaging emissions by 25% by 2030 (based on the reference year 2005). On August 24, 2018, Turnbull finally announced his resignation and Scott Morrison , a climate skeptic and supporter of coal mining, was elected leader of the right-wing Liberal Party of Australia and Prime Minister. Its environmental policy is coming under pressure from the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires .

Coal types and deposits

Open pit coal mine at Collie in Western Australia

There are two types of coal mined in Australia, depending on the region: the high-quality hard coal and the lower -quality lignite. Hard coal occurs in New South Wales and Queensland and lignite in Victoria . There are also two coal deposits in Western Australia .

Coal is burned in domestic power plants and sold overseas. Generally, this coal is mined underground and transported by rail to power plants or shipping terminals. Hard coal was also transported to other Australian states for power generation.

Lignite has a lower calorific value and produces more ash and water vapor than hard coal. Victoria adopted German power plant and briquette-making technologies in the 1920s to exploit its lignite deposits in the Latrobe Valley . Today there are three lignite opencast mines in Victoria, which are supposed to secure the base load generation of the power plants in this state.

Coal production and reserves

In the Australian financial year 2000/2001, 258.5 million tons of coal were mined (193.6 million tons of which were exported). In 2008/2009 there were 487 million tons of coal (of which 261 million tons were exported).

The total production of hard coal was 405 million tons in the 2010/2011 financial year, and 471 million tons in the 2009/2010 financial year. This decline in coal production was caused by the Queensland floods in 2010/2011 when coal production in Queensland was flooded and production dropped by 30 percent.

According to calculations, the Australian hard coal reserves last 111 years and those of lignite 539 years. However, these calculations do not assume a further increase in mining, because the extraction of hard coal in Australia has increased by an average of 5% per year over the past 20 years.

The main coal mines

The table below shows the most important coal mines.

mine	Country	area	Current owner	Geospatial data	Coal quality	Million t / year	Million t / year / export	Biggest Buyer	Funding method
Anglesea	VIC	Anglesea	Alcoa of Australia	38 ° 23 '42 "  S , 144 ° 9' 57.6"  E	Brown coal	?	Nile	Anglesea power station	Open pit
Beltana	NSW	Singleton	Xstrata	32 ° 39 ′ 21.6 ″  S , 151 ° 7 ′ 15.6 ″  E	Steam coal	7.6	?	?	Underground mining
Bengalla	NSW	Muswellbrook	Coal and Allied	32 ° 19 '24.2 "  S , 150 ° 51' 29.2"  O	Steam coal	?	?	?	Open pit
Callide	QLD	Callide ( Biloela )	Anglo American [1]	24 ° 19 '38.3 "  S , 150 ° 37' 4.5"  E	Steam coal	?	?	?	Open pit
Capcoal	QLD	Middlemount	Anglo American	22 ° 57 '50.4 "  S , 148 ° 33' 0.2"  E	Hard coal coke & PCI coal	7th	?	?	Open pit & underground mining
Dawson	QLD	Dawson (Moura)	Anglo Coal	24 ° 17 ′ 45.6 ″  S , 151 ° 6 ′ 46.8 ″  E	Coking coal & steam coal	7th	?	?	Open pit
Drayton	NSW	Hunter region	Anglo Coal	32 ° 20 ′ 45.6 "  S , 150 ° 54 ′ 39.6"  O	Coking coal & steam coal	7th	?	?	Open pit
Broadmeadows	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	21 ° 44 ′ 34.8 "  S , 147 ° 58 ′ 14.8"  E	Coal coke	4th	?	?	Underground mining
Blackwater	QLD	Duringa	BMA	23 ° 42 ′ 36 ″  S , 147 ° 33 ′ 0.2 ″  E	Steam coal / coking coal	13	?	?	Open pit
Blair Athol [2]	QLD	Clermont	Rio Tinto	22 ° 41 ′ 27.6 "  S , 147 ° 31 ′ 59.2"  E	Steam coal	12	?	?	Open pit
Burton	QLD	Nebo	Peabody Energy Australia	21 ° 34 '12 "  S , 148 ° 10' 58.8"  E	Steam coal / coking coal	4th	?	?	Open pit
Callide	QLD	Biloela	Anglo American	24 ° 19 ′ 1.2 ″  S , 150 ° 37 ′ 22.8 ″  E	?	4th	?	?	Open pit
Collinsville	QLD	Collinsville	Xstrata	20 ° 29 '31.2 "  S , 147 ° 47' 2.4"  E	Steam coal / coking coal	5	?	?	Open pit
Coppabella	QLD	Coppabella	Macarthur Coal	21 ° 50 '56.4 "  S , 148 ° 25' 58.8"  E	?	7th	?	?	Open pit
Curragh	QLD	Blackwater	Wesfarmers	23 ° 28 '30 "  S , 148 ° 51' 43.2"  E	Steam coal / coking coal	7th	?	?	Open pit
Goonyella / Riverside	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	21 ° 43 '48 "  S , 147 ° 58" 44.4 "  E	Coal coke	11	?	?	Opencast mining / underground mining
Griffin Coal	WA	collie	Ric Stowe	33 ° 21 '32.4 "  S , 116 ° 9' 10.8"  O	Hard coal	5	Nile	Bluewaters Power, Synergy Power	Open pit
Hail Creek	Qld	Nebo	Rio Tinto Coal Australia (RTCA)	21 ° 29 ′ 6 ″  S , 148 ° 22 ′ 4.8 ″  E	Coal coke	4.5	Alles	?	Open pit
Leigh Creek	SA	Leigh Creek	NRG Flinders	30 ° 30 ′ 10.8 "  S , 138 ° 25 ′ 26.2"  E	Brown coal	?	?	Port Augusta power station	Open pit
Loy Lang	VIC	Traralgon	Loy Yang power plant	38 ° 15 '7.2 "  S , 146 ° 34" 26.4 "  E	Brown coal	?	Nile	Loy Yang power plant	Open pit
Moorvale	QLD	Moranbah	Macarthur Coal	21 ° 59 '24 "  S , 148 ° 21' 14.4"  E	Steam coal / PCI coal	?	?	?	Open pit
Mount Arthur Coal (MAC)	NSW	Muswellbrook	BHP Billiton	32 ° 20 ′ 0.6 ″  S , 151 ° 52 ′ 36 ″  O	Steam coal	15th	12	?	Open pit
Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW)	NSW	Singleton	Coal & Allied	32 ° 37 ′ 30 ″  S , 151 ° 5 ′ 24 ″  E	Steam coal / coking coal	?	?	?	Open pit
Moranbah North	QLD	Moranbah	Anglo American	21 ° 52  '26.4 " S , 147 ° 57' 50.4"  E	Coal coke	4.5	?	?	Underground mining
Morwell	VIC	Morwell	International power	38 ° 16 ′ 21.7 ″  S , 146 ° 23 ′ 30 ″  E	Brown coal	20th	Nile	Hazelwood Power Station , Power Station Energy Brix	Open pit
Norwich Park	QLD	Dysart	BMA	22 ° 46 ′ 48 ″  S , 148 ° 28 ′ 48 ″  E	Coking coal	6th	Alles	?	Open pit
Newlands	QLD	Glenden	Xstrata	21 ° 12 '43.2 "  S , 147 ° 53' 24"  E	Steam coal / coking coal	12	?	?	Open pit & underground mining
Peak downs	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	22 ° 14 ′ 13.2 ″  S , 148 ° 0 ′ 43.2 ″  E	Coal coke	13	Alles	?	Open pit
Saraji	QLD	Dysart	BMA	22 ° 21 '43.2 "  S , 148 ° 17' 24"  E	Coal coke	7.5	Alles	?	Open pit
Ulan	NSW	Ulan via Mudgee	Xstrata	32 ° 14 ′ 38.4 "  S , 149 ° 44 ′ 56.4"  E	Steam coal	5	?	?	Open pit & underground mining
Wesfarmers Premier Coal	WA	collie	Wesfarmers	33 ° 24 '39.6 "  S , 116 ° 14" 20.4 "  E	Hard coal	3.5	Nile	Synergy Power	Open pit
Yallourn	VIC	Yallourn	TRUenergy	38 ° 10 ′ 42.2 "  S , 146 ° 20 ′ 20.8"  E	Brown coal	?	Nile	Yallourn power station	Open pit
Bulga Coal	NSW	Singleton	Oakbridge Group (Managed by Xstrata Coal)	32 ° 39 ′ 0 ″  S , 151 ° 4 ′ 12 ″  E	Steam coal / coking coal	10.8	Alles	Nippon Oil	Open pit

Australian Coal Foreign Markets

Australian coal export markets in 2008–2009

Country / Territory	Million tons / soft coal	Million tons / steam coal	Million tons / total	Ranking	% Export share
Japan	43.3	61.5	104.8	1	39.8
South Korea	15.1	27.9	43.1	2	16.3
Taiwan	6.1	20.0	26.1	3	9.9
China	15.5	9.5	25.0	4th	9.5
India	23.8	0.9	24.7	5	9.4
Europe	18.6	2.3	20.9	6th	7.9

Australian Coal Export Markets 2009–2010

Country / Territory	Million tons / total	Ranking	% Export share
Japan	115.3	1	39.3
China	42.4	2	14.5
South Korea	40.7	3	13.9
India	31.92	4th	10.9
Taiwan	26.53	5	9.0
28 other states	33.5	6th	11.4

The share of exports to China has almost doubled within one year (2008/2009 to 2009/2010).

Important export ports

port	Country	Million tons in 2009	Million tons in 2008
Newcastle	NSW	92.8	91.4
Hay Point	QLD	96.6 (2012-13)	80.4
Gladstone	QLD	85.29 (2012-13)	54.1
Abbot Point	QLD	14.4	12.5
Port Kembla	NSW	13.7	13.3
Brisbane	QLD	6.3	5.5

Individual evidence

1. ^ Coal , on Geoscience Australia . Retrieved January 3, 2020
2. ↑ M. Hohmann: Coal production in Australia until 2018 , from June 28, 2019, on Statista, accessed on January 13, 2020
3. ↑ Michelle Cunningham, Luke Van Uffelen, Mark Chambers: The Changing Global Market for Australian Coal , September 19, 2019, Central Bank of Australia. Accessed January 2, 2020
4. ^ ^{A b} Mark Diesendorf, Hugh Saddler (2003): Australia's Polluting Power. Coal-fired electricity and its impact on global warming , ed. v. WWF Australia . P. 1 and 2. Retrieved February 2, 2012
5. ↑ Australia is the world's third-largest exporter of CO2 in fossil fuels, report finds dated August 18, 2019, on Australian Broadcasting Corporation , accessed January 2, 2020
6. ↑ Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism Energy in Australia 2011 ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.4 MB), page 39, accessed on February 3, 2012. 
7. ↑ Australian Government: Department of Resources Energy and Tourism on ret.gov.au ( Memento of the original dated December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.4 MB): Energy of Australia 2011 . P. 1. Accessed February 1, 2012 
8. ↑ Australian Government: Department of Resources Energy and Tourism on ret.gov.au ( Memento of the original dated December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.4 MB): Energy of Australia 2011 . P. 3 
9. ↑ unfccc.int (PDF; 134 kB): Summary of GHG Emissions for Australia p. 1. Retrieved on February 1, 2012
10. ↑ Australian Government: Department of Resources Energy and Tourism on ret.gov.au ( Memento of the original dated December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.4 MB): Energy of Australia 2011 . P. 21. Accessed February 1, 2012 
11. ^ Greens Queensland. 2010. Upper Hunter Valley coal mining shows dangers for Queensland. April 13, 2010. Media Release: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ csiro.au ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.9 MB): Preston, BL and RN Jones: Climate Change Impacts on Australia and the Benefits of Early Action to Reduce Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions . Retrieved February 1, 2012 
13. ↑ elib.dlr.de : Energy [R] evolution 2010 - a sustainable world energy outlook
14. ↑ beyondzeroemissions.org ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Zero Carbon Australia 
15. ↑ http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/resources/reports/climate-change/just-transition-report
16. ^ The Importance of Coal in the Modern World - Australia . Gladstone Center for Clean Coal. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
17. ^ NSW Department of Planning. 2008. Impacts of underground coal mining on natural features in the Southern Coalfield: strategic review. State of New South Wales: Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
18. ↑ GE's ecomagination ™ Certified Jenbacher Power Plant. Commissioned at Australian Coal Mine to Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions , www.gepower.com, accessed April 14, 2011
19. ↑ Queensland Government Inaugurates Alternative Energy Plant Powered by GE's Jenbacher Waste Coal Mine Gas Engines ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , www.v1energy.com, accessed May 11, 2011 
20. ↑ Clarke Generates Interest at Blackwater ( Memento of the original from June 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Clarke Energy article at www.gastoday.com.au, accessed May 11, 2011 
21. ↑ focus.de : New Prime Minister ratifies Kyoto Protocol , dated December 3, 2007, accessed on February 6, 2012
22. ↑ BBC News - Australia on bbc.co.uk : Australia Senate backs carbon tax , November 8, 2011, accessed February 1, 2012
23. ↑ BBC Energiewende in Australia takes Germany as a deterrent example : section After the U-turn , accessed on December 20, 2014
24. ↑ Malcolm Turnbull. Under-pressure Australia PM drops climate policy. In: British Broadcasting Corporation on May 20, 2018, accessed January 2, 2020
25. ^ Scott Morrison is new Australian PM as Malcolm Turnbull ousted. In: British Broadcasting Corporation on August 24, 2018, accessed December 31, 2019.
26. ↑ Australia's Prime Minister rejects stricter climate targets. In: Spiegel Online from December 23, 2019, accessed on January 2, 2020.
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28. ↑ Australia Mineral Statistics 2009- June Quarter . Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 3, 2009. 
29. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
30. ↑ Australian Government: Department of Resources Energy and Tourism on ret.gov.au ( Memento of the original dated December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Energy of Australia 2011 . P. 3 
31. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
32. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
33. ^ The Iron Ore, Coal and Gas Sectors
34. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (offline) 
35. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
36. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
37. ↑ http://www.portkembla.com.au/page/port-operations/trade---cargo/