When Keith De Lacy was treasurer of Queensland, a certain K. Rudd was the other can-do man in the then state government. Now that the Prime Minister has come up in the world, Mr De Lacy has a message for him: the Australian coal industry was sold out in Copenhagen, and Kevin Rudd needs to drastically revise his climate change response...

Developed nations have the best anti-pollution standards: In taking stock after the Copenhagen climate change conference, Australia's policymakers need to protect the national interest by guarding against carbon leakage and the export of jobs to developing nations. Such an approach will also be in the best interests of the global environment, as few developing nations have enforced the strict anti-pollution standards that apply in Australia and other advanced economies.

Business groups have called for a rethink of the Rudd government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, after the Copenhagen climate change talks failed to set targets or timetables to cut greenhouse gases.... Australian Coal Association chief executive Ralph Hillman said that the coal industry's treatment in the CPRS should be rethought as Copenhagen had left the issue of burden sharing of emissions cuts among countries "ambiguous".

Increased Chinese thermal coal imports and South African port constraints should boost Australian coal prices and demand in the new year, potentially lengthening queues at Newcastle. According to Chinese media, the nation is preparing for a seasonal jump in heating demand by dropping coal import tariffs and giving thermal coal, used to make electricity, priority over iron ore and coking coal on the railways.

Demand for gas in the eastern states and South Australia is expected to grow fourfold over the next 20 years, as Queensland export projects start and the Rudd government's emissions trading scheme drives gas-powered electricity generation at the expense of coal-fired power. The growth will mean that Queensland will exceed its existing gas pipeline capacity by 2013, NSW in 2012 and Victoria between 2012 and 2015.

The Australian government's project of trying to make coal less polluting by capturing and storing its carbon emissions has been dealt an expensive blow at the climate summit. The UN conference refused to include clean coal technology in its main program for channelling money to clean fuel projects, locking carbon capture and storage out of potentially billions of dollars of funding.

The Chinese Government is set to become an even bigger force in the Australian state of New South Wales' coal industry with a takeover of Felix Resources clearing the final hurdle. The Federal Court on Thursday approved the roughly USD 3.2 billion acquisition of Felix by the Yanzhou Coal Mining Company.

Australian researchers say they have found a way to slash carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations by doubling their efficiency, opening the way for the long-term survival of the coal industry. They have developed a new type of engine that generates energy using heat already produced in power stations but lost into the atmosphere, allowing a coal-fired power station to halve its emissions.