16 ms·

I'm sure things are gamed, at least within what the letter of what regulations allow if not further. But NSW does not mine brown coal or have brown coal power

I'm sure things are gamed, at least within what the letter of what regulations allow if not further. But NSW does not mine brown coal or have brown coal power plants, and buying brown coal from other mines would obviously attract attention. But the design differences between brown and black coal plants at all stages from fuel processing, injection, burning, and waste extraction are so different between brown and black fuel that you couldn't just flip between them even if you had the fuel on hand. So I doubt the accuracy of this rumor too.

Jedd 5y ago
Hmm, you're right. This was a comment made to me about a decade or so ago, when this person was at, or had just left, Liddell power station. It was definitely gamed in the way I described - the best coal went into the one burner that was actually monitored - and I'm guessing I since assumed that to mean brown went into the other three. Referring to http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/576543/Quality-of-coal-deposits.pdf http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_f... - it looks like NSW has a range of coal qualities being mined, and I'm sure even slight deltas in price, at the quantities we'd be looking at for a power station that size, would reward this behaviour.
grecy 5y ago
As an Australian that has just returned after 15 years away, it baffles me there are Australians who will iterate the differences between "Extraordinarily mind-bendingly bad" and regular old "horribly bad" like it makes a difference. "Clean Coal" is actually a joke and I'm genuinely shocked people fell for it. Murdoch has A LOT of control here.
- throwawaylinux 5y ago
  > As an Australian that has just returned after 15 years away, it baffles me there are Australians who will iterate the differences between "Extraordinarily mind-bendingly bad" and regular old "horribly bad" like it makes a difference. I don't know what you're getting at or how it relates to what I wrote. Black coal generation is about twice as good as brown coal for emissions intensity of production of electricity and gas is about twice as good as black coal. These differences and other differences in efficiency are extremely important if you're looking to minimize emissions, which is the subject of the article.
  - cduzz 5y ago
    I think the observation is one of "it is healthier to drink 2 liters of whiskey than 2 liters of bleach, and the bleach is healthier than 2 liters of dimethylmercury" In some ways, yes, correct. In ways that are important, though, no.
    - shard972 5y ago
      and the aus left continue to wonder why they are just shouting into the wind at this point.

Jedd 5y ago

Hmm, you're right. This was a comment made to me about a decade or so ago, when this person was at, or had just left, Liddell power station. It was definitely gamed in the way I described - the best coal went into the one burner that was actually monitored - and I'm guessing I since assumed that to mean brown went into the other three. Referring to http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/576543/Quality-of-coal-deposits.pdf http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_f... - it looks like NSW has a range of coal qualities being mined, and I'm sure even slight deltas in price, at the quantities we'd be looking at for a power station that size, would reward this behaviour.

grecy 5y ago

As an Australian that has just returned after 15 years away, it baffles me there are Australians who will iterate the differences between "Extraordinarily mind-bendingly bad" and regular old "horribly bad" like it makes a difference. "Clean Coal" is actually a joke and I'm genuinely shocked people fell for it. Murdoch has A LOT of control here.

throwawaylinux 5y ago
> As an Australian that has just returned after 15 years away, it baffles me there are Australians who will iterate the differences between "Extraordinarily mind-bendingly bad" and regular old "horribly bad" like it makes a difference. I don't know what you're getting at or how it relates to what I wrote. Black coal generation is about twice as good as brown coal for emissions intensity of production of electricity and gas is about twice as good as black coal. These differences and other differences in efficiency are extremely important if you're looking to minimize emissions, which is the subject of the article.
- cduzz 5y ago
  I think the observation is one of "it is healthier to drink 2 liters of whiskey than 2 liters of bleach, and the bleach is healthier than 2 liters of dimethylmercury" In some ways, yes, correct. In ways that are important, though, no.
  - shard972 5y ago
    and the aus left continue to wonder why they are just shouting into the wind at this point.