Dirty Coal in the Sunshine State
by Ellie Smith
Queensland is the biggest coal exporting state in the biggest exporting country in the world. In the financial year 2006-07 the Queensland coal industry produced 234,518,109 tonnes of coal, exporting 153,332,536 tonnes of that. By the end of 2008 Queensland’s export capacity is expected to be 230 million tonnes per annum (Mt/a). Expansion of this industry has continued virtually unopposed … until now.
Queenslanders are slowly waking up to the root causes of climate change and are realising that coal mining is unsustainable and it’s our responsibility to oppose it, whether the coal is destined for a power station in Queensland or overseas.
Exports, Infrastructure, and the Bottleneck
Queensland currently has six coal terminals; two of these are situated in Gladstone. Seemingly, this is not enough. The Queensland government has approved a massive new terminal at Wiggins Island in the port of Gladstone and three of the existing ports are earmarked for expansion. If all of these developments go ahead Queensland’s exporting capacity will reach 343 Mt/y in the near future.
Queensland Rail is constantly increasing the throughput capacity of the ‘CoalRail’ system in Queensland by adding additional capacity to existing lines. By the end of 2008 they expect to have capacity to transport 230 Mt/a to match port capacity. Two important pieces of rail infrastructure on the drawing board are the northern and southern ‘missing links’, which will connect up existing infrastructure, enabling coal to be transported to the port where capacity is available rather than necessarily the closest port. According to our Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Paul Lucas, the southern missing link … “will do for Southern Inland Queensland what the Blackwater, Goonyella and Newlands [rail] systems have done for the Bowen Basin”… which can not be a good thing!
At the moment, nine new coal mines are at various stages of the approval process. Queensland has over 100 years of easily accessible coal reserves of coal but the infrastructure must be there in order to export it. There is a bottleneck… and it must stay that way.
Queensland’s power and the ‘clean’ coal myth
There is a strong sense within the Queensland government, as with many governments across the country, that so-called ‘clean’ coal will be their salvation. The Queensland government currently has no exit strategy from its coal dependence and that, along with a strong coal lobby, has meant that funding that should be building a viable renewable energy industry is instead being channelled into so-called clean coal technologies. Three major demonstration plants are going ahead in Queensland with at least one more on the cards.
The government pays lip service to the need for this technology to be proven (assuming it ever will) before building any new coal fired power stations. The fine print of its “ClimateSmart” strategy, though, tells us that new power plants will be approved even if they’re only ‘clean coal ready’. No doubt other articles in this reader will convince you that so called ‘clean’ coal is dubious at best and we should not be approving any new coal fired power stations in Australia.
The time for action is now.
Whether you feel most comfortable writing letters, engaging the community or causing maximum economic damage to the coal industry by non-violent means, the time for action is now. The actions needed are as many and varied as the population of Queensland and Australia. One thing is for sure: while 85% of our coal is exported, changing our light bulbs will not be enough. Every tonne of coal we dig up will inevitably contribute to climate change.
If you are beginning to feel the weight of responsibility on your shoulders, don’t sweat it, there are others around who are ready and willing to share the load. No one knows how the movement to keep Queensland’s coal in the ground will look, but with every letter you write and every coal train you delay, you’ll be building it.
Contact Ellie Smith from Brisbane on Climate.action.qld@gmail.com
