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“Coal is abundant worldwide so if Australia doesn’t supply it, somewhere else will, but it will be of a lesser quality.” If this is true then the only reason n
by jazzabeanie 7y ago
“Coal is abundant worldwide so if Australia doesn’t supply it, somewhere else will, but it will be of a lesser quality.”
If this is true then the only reason not to approve the coal mine from a CO2 perspective is to increase the cost of coal, thereby making renewables more attractive. You can effectively accomplish the same thing with taxes.
Australia should tax the mine as much as it can without pushing it off shore, and focus on reducing its own carbon emissions.
- jimmux 7y agoFunny you say that. A previous government introduced the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, but this triggered a propaganda campaign funded by billionaire mine owners, and they lost the next election.
- taneq 7y agoI believe a fair portion of Australian coal is metallurgical coal, used for steelmaking, and so isn't really substitutable with renewables.
- jazzabeanie 7y agoI can't see the supply or demand for steel making going away any time soon.
- jussij 7y agoAustralia exports vast amounts of both coking (i.e. steelmaking) and thermal (i.e. electricity) coal. The coal fight currently going on here in Australia is over the new Adani mine which is a thermal coal mine.
- taneq 7y agoHuh, I was basing my statement on a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with a geologist who works in the industry, and said it was producing metallurgical coal. That'll teach me not to cross-check my sources...
- mrob 7y agoIron can be refined electrolytically without coal: https://phys.org/news/2013-05-electrolysis-method-green-iron.html https://phys.org/news/2013-05-electrolysis-method-green-iron... This is not cost effective compared to the standard method, and only small scale prototypes exist.