Coal News - Australia

This month/last month...

Headlines with precis for selected news items relating to coal in an Australian and regional context, and clean coal technologies generally.

Note: Stories of a financial nature, such as share prices, dividends, etc, are excluded. Also, to avoid repetition, generally only one source of a particular story is presented.

News Archives... 2008 >> ; 2007 >> ; 2006 >> ; 2005 >>

July 2008 >>

Altona extends MoU with BP for Australia coal project for another year
Altona Resources Plc, the AIM-listed Australian energy group, said it has extended its memorandum of understanding with BP Plc for the Arckaringa coal-to-liquids (CTL) project for another year to June 2009.
Hemscott - London, UK - Tuesday 22 July 2008

China launches carbon capture facility at thermal plant
China Huaneng Group, the country's largest power producer, put into operation on Wednesday in Beijing a post-combustion carbon capture facility at a thermal power plant that has successfully captured carbon with a purity of 99.99 percent. The pilot project is capable of recovering more than 85 percent of carbon dioxide from flue gases of the power plant and can thus trap 3,000 tons of the gas annually from emissions that would otherwise contribute to global warming..
Xinhua - China - Thursday 17 July 2008

Waratah Coal's $5.3 billion proposal
The Queensland Government has lent its support to a hugely ambitious $5.3 billion proposal to develop a new coal province around Alpha, in the centre of the state, and a 495km railway to link it to a new deep water port on the coast.
Melbourne Herald Sun - Australia - Tuesday 15 July 2008

Captured: first tonne of dirt from clean coal plant
Australia's first "clean coal" plant is finally up and running, with scientists announcing yesterday that the first tonne or so of carbon dioxide was captured and liquified at Loy Yang power station in Victoria. A similar plant at Munmorah on the central coast is yet to show results, although the switch was ceremonially flicked last Friday.
Sydney Morning Herald - Australia - Thursday 10 July 2008

Clean coal facility planned for Collie
The future of clean coal could soon be secured with a new facility based in Collie to enhance the potential of coal as a clean fuel for power generation. Plans are currently underway for Collie to be a base for the soon-to-be-developed WA Centre for Carbon Capture and Sequestration.
Collie Mail - Western Australia - Thursday 10 July 2008

Vic could 'spearhead' low carbon economy
Victoria is well-placed to spearhead Australia's drive towards a low carbon economy, the federal government's chief climate change adviser says. Speaking prior to a public forum to promote his draft report on tackling climate change, Professor Ross Garnaut said Australia and the world were facing major changes and challenges in reducing emissions.
The Age - Melbourne, Australia - Wednesday 9 July 2008

Carbon dioxide burial reaches a milestone
It is technology vital to the Government's hopes of cutting greenhouse emissions from Australia's huge coal-fired power stations: capturing carbon dioxide from the polluting stations and burying it deep underground. Australia's first trial of geosequestration in the Otways reached its first milestone last week — 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide was successfully stored two kilometres underground in a depleted natural gas field.
The Age, Melbourne - Australia - Monday 7 July 2008

Energy Association worried about coal
The power industry has warned that Australia needs to look after its coal industry in the face of reduced greenhouse gas emissions targets. The Energy Industry Association says recommendations to cut emissions need to be balanced by the fact that 85 per cent of Australia's electricity is generated by coal. Chief executive Brad Page says developing clean coal technologies is just as important as looking at alternative energy supplies.
ABC Online - Australia - Monday 7 July 2008

Australian economy would be reshaped by carbon trading scheme
Australia's top climate change adviser has recommended the rapid introduction of a carbon emissions trading scheme that will mean a radical reshaping of the country's economy. Ross Garnaut, appointed by the government to design what it hopes will be the world's most extensive emissions regime, said Australia was critically at risk from climate change and urged immediate deep cuts in emissions from the world's top coal exporter.
Financial times, UK - Saturday 5 July 2008

Approval of $750m coal plant defended
The Victorian Government yesterday defended giving final approval to a new coal-fired power station.... Victorian Energy Minister Peter Batchelor said the Latrobe Valley plant - which has received $150 million from the federal and state governments - would be operating in 2012. The Government has billed the Australian-Chinese joint venture as a clean-coal trial plant as it will use new gasification and drying technology to reduce emissions by about 30 per cent on those of conventional brown coal power stations.
The Australian - Sydney, Australia - Thursday 3 July 2008

June 2008 >>

Going nuclear not essential: Rudd
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Australia does not need to resort to nuclear energy as part of its climate change strategy....Mr Rudd has also maintained that the coal industry must remain part of a long-term solution and that clean coal technologies must be further developed, but he is optimistic about its future. "What the nation needs to set for itself and the world is a goal to bring about the commercial application and scale of clean-coal technologies," he said.
ABC Online - Australia - Friday 27 June 2008

China plant to begin coal-to-liquid production
One of the world's largest coal producers will finish construction this year of the first coal-to-liquid plant built in 40 years -- but the $1.5 billion project isn't located in America -- it's in China. The Shenhua Group will begin producing diesel fuel from coal later this year at the facility, located in Inner Mongolia, about 375 miles west of Beijing.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - USA - Tuesday 24 June 2008

Clean coal pilot project under construction
A pilot project to clean up emissions from one of the country's worst polluters is under construction in NSW. State-owned power corporation, Delta Electricity, is building an ammonia-based system to capture carbon from the Munmorah power station on the central coast. CSIRO are involved in developing these plants in Australia but they're also developing a plant in China near Beijing...
ABC Online - Australia - Wednesday 18 June 2008

Siemens coal gasifiers to Australia
The two gasifiers will be sent to a fertilizer plant in Latrobe Valley in the state of Victoria, where they are to be used to convert lignite to ammonia.
United German-based Siemens Energy will supply coal gasification to Australia. This is the first time the energy giant has announced it will share its developed technology with an Australian project. Australian Energy Co. Ltd has acquired a license for two 500-megawatt coal gasifiers.
United Press International - USA - Tuesday 17 June 2008

No slowing the Chinese dragon
Chinese giant Chalco is keen to make more investments in Australia, potentially involving "a large amount of money". This could potentially include using clean coal technology to produce low-carbon power to support an aluminium smelter.
Melbourne Herald Sun - Australia - Tuesday 17 June 2008

Nelson unveils Vic coal industry vision
The Leader of the Federal Opposition, Brendan Nelson, has released a five point plan today for the future of the coal fired power industry in Victoria's Latrobe Valley. The plan hinges on creating a Clean Energy Target by 2012, a policy recently abandoned by the Labor Government.
ABC Online - Australia - Friday 13 June 2008

Carbon tax clouds coal outlook: ABARE
Australia's coal export industry can look forward to a bright future but overseas carbon tax schemes may cloud the outlook, a conference has heard. The fast-growing economies of China and India were expected to keep demand high, said Rohan Kendall, commodity analyst with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE).
The Age, Melbourne - Thursday 12 June 2008

Australia's Mineral Export Sales Increase 6% in March Quarter
Australia, the world's biggest exporter of coal and iron ore, said sales of mineral resources rose 6 percent in the March quarter driven by increased exports of iron ore, crude oil and gold. Exports rose to A$27.1 billion ($25.6 billion) in the three months ended March 31, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said today in a report on its Web site.
Bloomberg, USA - Wednesday 11 June 2008

Coal stations to be brought on line to ease gas crisis
The State Government will recommission a mothballed coal fired power station to boost energy supplies in the wake of the gas shortage. Collie's Muja A-B station was decommissioned last year. Three of its four units will now be brought back online, the first within six weeks.
ABC Online, Australia - Wednesday 11 June 2008

West Australia Scrambles for Energy After Explosion
Western Australia's government is scrambling to find alternative energy sources for metal producers including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group after a blast at an Apache Corp. plant cut natural-gas supplies by 30 percent. Apache said on June 6 that its natural-gas output from Varanus Island may be halted for at least two months.
Bloomberg, USA - Monday 9 June 2008

$45 trillion urged in battling carbon emissions
In one of the strongest warnings so far about the world's thirst for energy, the International Energy Agency said Friday that investment totaling $45 trillion might be needed over the next half-century to prevent energy shortages and greenhouse gas emissions from undermining global economic growth.
International Herald Tribune - France - Friday 6 June 2008

Bad case of the flue to be treated with ammonia
Munmorah power station is to be the guinea pig for a revolutionary clean air project. Delta Electricity and CSIRO are developing a $5 million research pilot plant at the station to capture up to 3000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. In a few weeks engineers will begin using ammonia to wash emissions from the coal-fired power station to dissolve greenhouse gases and other pollutants, preventing them from entering the atmosphere.
Central Coast Express Advocate - Australia - Friday 6 June 2008

Australia's Trade Deficit Narrows as Exports Surge
Australia's trade deficit narrowed in April to the smallest gap in 14 months as a surge in coal shipments pushed exports to a record, helping boost an economic expansion in its 17th year. The trade shortfall shrank to A$957 million ($916 million) from a revised A$2.55 billion in March, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today.
Bloomberg - USA - Thursday 5 June 2008

Australia to Promote Coal-to-Liquids to Improve Energy Security
Australia will promote development of an industry for the conversion of coal and natural gas into cleaner transport fuels to improve security of supply, the country's resources minister said. The government is working with proponents of the technology on an ''action agenda'' .... ''Converting coal and natural gas to fuels will play a major role in Australia's energy future,'' he said.
Bloomberg - USA - Thursday 5 June 2008

BHP Says Australia Needs to Ease Control Over Ports, Rail
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, said Australia needs to ease government control over ports and railroads to attract private investment. ''Concerns have been raised about the lack of investment in Australia's regulated ports,'' Marius Kloppers, chief executive officer of the Melbourne-based company, said... ''Against a backdrop of high demand, Australia's challenge is to maximize investment in infrastructure that enables rapid and efficient expansion of capacity.''
Bloomberg - USA - Thursday 5 June 2008

Coal part of climate solution
Some anti-mining groups have distorted the truth in relation to the United States Government's decision to rethink its funding for the FutureGen project...Contrary to reports earlier this year, the US is not withdrawing support altogether. It has decided to concentrate its funding on the carbon capture and storage component of the project rather than on the power plant technology known as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC).
Illawara Mercury - Australia - Tuesday 3 Jun 2008

$2bn plan to 'fuel petroleum needs'
A $2 billion coal project will be unveiled today in Victoria's Latrobe Valley as its backer suggests Australia could replace all petroleum imports by turning the nation's vast reserves of brown coal to oil. Victorian Premier John Brumby will launch the Australian Energy Company's project to turn brown coal into enough urea, a nitrogen-rich fertiliser, to supply Australia's needs.
The Australian - Tuesday 3 June 2008

Treasurer to hitch a ride on coal's gravy train
Queensland has become the state most dependent on the minerals boom for its economic health, with the Bligh Government increasing the levy on coal exported from the state at a time when prices are near record highs. While coal royalties this financial year provided just over $1billion to the Queensland Government, today's budget will forecast revenue from minerals will rise to $3.2 billion.
The Australian - Tuesday 3 June 2008

Rio Tinto Says US Must Spend Billions for Clean-Coal Devices
Rio Tinto Group and U.S. utilities are urging the government to spend $20 billion on a technology they say has the best chance for eliminating pollution linked to global warming.
Bloomberg - USA - Monday 2 June 2008