Coal in Australia is mined primarily in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Coal is used to generate electricity and most of the coal mined in Australia is exported, mostly to eastern Asia. In fiscal year 2013/14, 430.9 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 375.1 million tonnes was exported. Coal provides about 69% of Australia's electricity production. In fiscal year 2008/09, 487 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 261 million tonnes was exported. In 2013, Australia was the world's fifth-largest coal producer, after China, the United States, India, and Indonesia. However, in terms of proportion of production exported, Australia was the world's second largest coal exporter, with exports accounting for roughly 73% of coal production. Indonesia exports about 87% of its coal production.
Coal mining in Australia has been criticised by members of the environmental movement, due to carbon dioxide emissions during combustion. This criticism is primarily directed at thermal coal, for its connection to coal-fired power stations as a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, and the link to climate change and the effects of global warming on Australia. The burning of coal for electricity produces 29% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions, based on 2013-2014 Clean Energy Regulator data.
Both Greenpeace Australia Pacific (Energy [R]evolution) and Beyond Zero Emissions (Zero Carbon Australia 2020) have produced reports claiming a transition can be made to renewable energy and Greenpeace has called for a just transition for coal based communities, but others argue at present there is no strong evidence of a viable alternative for the vast majority of Australia's electricity generation, or for the significant economic and social benefits coal mining delivers to regional communities. Many of these arguments specifically ignore the differentiation between thermal and metallurgical coal, and the different application they play in modern society. Coal Seam Gas, methane-based gas associated with deposits of coal has historically been flared, however over the past 10 years has been recovered and used to generate further electricity.
price on carbon emissions would be likely to impact most heavily on brown coal usage within Australia (particularly in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria) for power generation.
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Forms of coal
Australian coal is either high-quality bituminous coal (black coal) or lower-quality lignite (brown coal).
Bituminous coal is mined in Queensland and New South Wales, and is used for both domestic power generation and for export. It is mined underground or open-cut before being transported by rail to power stations or export shipping terminals. Bituminous coal was also once transported to other Australian states for power generation and industrial boilers.
Lignite is mined in Victoria and South Australia, and is of lower quality due to a lower thermal value largely caused by a high water content. Ash content varies significantly but some Australian lignite have very low ash content. As a result, Victoria adopted German power station and briquette technology in the 1920s to utilise the lignite reserves of the Latrobe Valley. Today coal from three open cut lignite coal mines in Victoria is used for baseload power generation.
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Production and reserves
Australia is the fifth largest producer of coal, and by proportion exported, Australia is the second largest exporter of coal in the world, with most of the exports going to Japan. Total production of bituminous coal in Australia in the financial year 2010-11 was 405 million tonnes (Mt.), down from 471 Mt. in 2009-10. This drop was largely as a result of the Queensland floods of January 2011 where production declined from an expected 200 Mt. to 163 Mt.
Coal exports are Australia's second-largest source of export income, after iron ore exports. In 2011, coal exports were worth 47 billion Australian dollars, or $USD 47.8 billion, with $USD 15.6 billion coming from exports of thermal coal for power stations. Coking coal generated $22.4 billion of export revenue in 2012/13 financial year with thermal coal bringing in $16.1 billion during the same period.
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences the economically demonstrated reserves to production ratios for bituminous coal and lignite in Australia are 111 years and 539 years respectively, however these figures do not account for growth in production. Bituminous coal exports from Australia have been growing at a rate of 5% (on average during the last 20 years). If this rate of growth would-be maintained to extinction all current economically demonstrated black coal in the country would be depleted in under 40 years; however continued growth at that rate is unlikely to occur for such a long period, and this estimate does not reflect growth in the demonstrated resource. Explorations in the last decade has resulted in a significant increase in inferred coal resources which are now almost double the economically demonstrated resource.
Major mines
The following table lists the major Australian Coal mines.
Major export markets for Australian coal
Major coal export ports
Major coal mining companies
Environmental impacts
The Australian community is understandably concerned about any mining activity that could place private or public property or valuable landscapes at risk. The coal industry claims however that extensive rehabilitation of areas mined helps to ensure that land capability, after coal mining, meets agreed and appropriate standards.
Coal is the principal fossil fuel used in power generation not only in Australia but in many other countries. Links between coal mining, coal burning, and climate change are being discussed widely in Australia.
On 27 November 2006 the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales judge Justice Nicola Pain made the historic decision to set aside the Director-General's acceptance of the Environmental Assessment for the Anvil Hill coal mine, on the grounds that it did not include a comprehensive greenhouse gas assessment, even though the proposed mining of coal was for export. However, on 7 June 2007 the planning minister for NSW Frank Sartor reversed this decision and approved the mine, attaching a list of 80 conditions to the mines operation including conservation offsets.
Environmental regulation of coal mining
Commonwealth law
The main Commonwealth environmental laws potentially applicable to coal mining are the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 EPBC Act and the Clean Energy Act 2011. The EPBC Act will only be triggered if a proposed action is likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance, for example federally listed threatened species.
State law
New South Wales
Relevant laws are mining law, land use planning law, biodiversity law and water law.
Pollution law
Coal mining requires a pollution control ('environment protection') licence under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) if it exceeds the following thresholds set out in Schedule 1 of the Act: if it is mining, processing or handling of coal (including tailings and chitter) at underground mines or open cut mines and (a) it has a capacity to produce more than 500 tonnes of coal per day, or (b) it has disturbed, is disturbing or will disturb a total surface area of more than 4 hectares of land by: (i) clearing or excavating, or (ii) constructing dams, ponds, drains, roads, railways or conveyors, or (iii) storing or depositing overburden or coal (including tailings and chitter).
Queensland
Clean coal technologies
The Federal Government has, as part of its pledge to mitigate global warming, committed A$100 million to commission a climate change-fighting "clean coal" and carbon sequestration research institute to make Australia a leader in this emerging technology. Carbon sequestration technology is not expected to be commercially viable for at least 5 to 10 years, but the Federal Labor government argues that it is a vital technology given Australia's reliance on coal-fired electricity. The merits of "clean coal" have been highly disputed by some technical experts and environment awareness groups.
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