Coal mining in Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Coal in Australia is mined primarily in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is used to generate electricity and 75% of the coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

mined in Australia is exported, mostly to eastern Asia. In 2000/01, 258.5 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 193.6 million tonnes exported. Coal also provides about 85% of Australia's electricity production. In fiscal year 2008/09, 487 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 261 million tonnes exported. Australia is the world's leading coal exporter.

Coal mining in Australia has been the subject of criticism from members of the environmental movement, because burning coal releases carbon dioxide, which is generally believed to contribute to climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

, global warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

, sea level rise and the effects of global warming on Australia

Effects of global warming on Australia

Predictions measuring the effects of global warming on Australia assert that climate change will negatively impact the continent's environment, economy, and communities...

. The burning of coal produces 42.1% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, not counting export coal, based on 2004 GHG inventory.

Both Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Greenpeace Australia Pacific is the regional office of the global environmental organization Greenpeace. Greenpeace Australia Pacific one of Australia's largest environmental organisations.-Origins and Formation:...

(Energy [R]evolution and Beyond Zero Emissions

Beyond Zero Emissions

Beyond Zero Emissions is an Australian-based, not-for-profit climate change solutions think-tank founded by Matthew Wright and Adrian Whitehead. The group coordinates research and education into the need to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to 'zero and below' by implementing structural...

(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. 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.

The proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a proposed cap-and-trade system of emissions trading for anthropogenic greenhouse gases, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia...

which followed the draft report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review

Garnaut Climate Change Review

The Garnaut Climate Change Review was a study by Professor Ross Garnaut, commissioned by then Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd and by the Australian State and Territory Governments on 30 April 2007...

would put a price on carbon through a reducing cap and trade emissions trading scheme and this would be likely to impact most heavily on brown coal usage within Australia (particularly in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria) for power generation.

Forms of coal

Two forms of coal are mined in Australia, depending on the region: high-quality black coal and lower-quality brown coal.

Black coal is found in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

and New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and is used for both domestic power generation and for export overseas. It is generally mined underground before being transported by rail to power stations, or export shipping terminals. Black coal was also once exported to other Australian states for power generation and industrial boilers.

Brown coal is found in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

and South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, and is of lower quality due a higher ash and water content. As a result Victoria adopted German power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

and briquette

Briquette

A briquette is a block of flammable matter used as fuel to start and maintain a fire. Common types of briquettes are charcoal briquettes and biomass briquettes.-Constituents of charcoal briquettes:...

technology in the 1920s to utilise the brown coal reserves of the Latrobe Valley

Latrobe Valley

The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical region and urban area of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is east of the City Of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the north – with the highest peak to the north of the...

. Today there are three open cut brown coal mines in Victoria used for baseload power generation.

Major mines

The following table lists the major Australian Coal mines.

Mine	State	Location	Ultimate Owner	Lat & Long	Type of Coal	Million Tons Mined PA	Million Tons Exported PA	Major Buyers	Major Method
Anglesea	VIC	Anglesea Anglesea, Victoria Anglesea is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Great Ocean Road in the Surf Coast Shire local government area. At the 2006 census, Anglesea had a population of 2,290....	Alcoa of Australia	38.395°S 144.166°E	Lignite	?	nil	Anglesea Power Station Anglesea Power Station, Victoria (Australia) Anglesea Power Station is located at Anglesea, in Victoria, Australia within the floristically rich Anglesea Heath area. It is brown coal powered with one steam turbine with a capacity of 150MW of electricity, supplying almost 40% of the electricity used by the nearby Point Henry aluminium...	Open Cut
Beltana	NSW	Singleton	Xstrata	32.656°S 151.121°E	Thermal	7.6	?	?	Underground
Bengalla	NSW	Muswellbrook	Coal and Allied	32.3234°S 150.8581°E	Thermal	?	?	?	Open Cut
Callide	QLD	Callide (Biloela)	Anglo American http://www.anglocoal.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/AngloCoal	24.327292°S 150.617906°E	Thermal	?	?	?	Open Cut
Capcoal	QLD	Middlemount Middlemount, Queensland Middlemount is a town in Queensland, Australia, located inland from Mackay and Rockhampton. It is a mining town servicing two coal mines, Foxleigh and German Creek...	Anglo American	22.964°S 148.55006°E	Hard Coking Coal & PCI	7	?	?	Open Cut & Underground
Dawson	QLD	Dawson (Moura)	Anglo Coal	24.296°S 151.113°E	Soft Coking & Thermal	7	?	?	Open Cut
Drayton	NSW	Hunter Valley	Anglo Coal	32.346°S 150.911°E	Soft Coking & Thermal	7	?	?	Open Cut
Broadmeadows	QLD	Moranbah	\|BMA	21.743°S 147.97077°E	Hard Coking Coal	4	?	?	Underground
Blackwater	QLD	Duringa	BMA	23.710°S 147.55006°E	Thermal/Coking	13	?	?	Open Cut
Blair Athol http://www.riotintocoalaustralia.com.au/321_blair_athol_mine.asp	QLD	Clermont Clermont, Queensland Clermont is an agricultural town in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. It is 274 km south-west of Mackay on the junction of the Gregory and Peak Downs highways...	Rio Tinto Rio Tinto Group The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...	22.691°S 147.5331°E	Thermal	12	?	?	Open Cut
Burton	QLD	Nebo Nebo, Queensland Nebo is a small town in Queensland, Australia, located 100 km south-west of the city of Mackay on the Peak Downs Highway. At the 2006 census, Nebo had a population of 282....	Peabody Energy Australia	21.570°S 148.183°E	Thermal/Coking	4	?	?	Open Cut
Callide	QLD	Biloela Biloela, Queensland Biloela is a rural town in Central Queensland, Australia. It is situated inland from the port city of Gladstone at the junction of the Burnett and Dawson highways...	Anglo American	24.317°S 150.623°E	?	4	?	?	Open Cut
Collinsville	QLD	Collinsville	Xtrata	20.492°S 147.784°E	Thermal/Coking	5	?	?	Open Cut
Coppabella	QLD	Coppabella	Macarthur Coal	21.849°S 148.433°E	?	7	?	?	Open Cut
Curragh	QLD	Blackwater	Wesfarmers	23.475°S 148.862°E	Thermal/Coking	7	?	?	Open Cut
Goonyella/Riverside Goonyella Riverside Mine Goonyella Riverside is a large open cut coking coal mine in Queensland located 30 km North of Moranbah.The area is mainly used for coal mining. The coal is well known for its great coking characteristics....	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	21.730°S 147.979°E	Hard Coking Coal	11	?	?	Open Cut/Underground
Griffin Coal	WA	Collie	Ric Stowe	33.359°S 116.153°E	Bitumous	5	nil	Bluewaters Power, Synergy Power	Open Cut
Hail Creek	Qld	Nebo	Rio Tinto Coal Australia (RTCA)	21.485°S 148.368°E	Hard Coking Coal	4.5	all	?	Open Cut
Leigh Creek	SA	Leigh Creek Leigh Creek, South Australia Leigh Creek is a coal-mining town in the north of South Australia. At the 2006 census, Leigh Creek had a population of 549....	NRG Flinders	30.503°S 138.42394°E	Lignite	?	?	Port Augusta Power Stations	Open Cut
Loy Lang	VIC	Traralgon Traralgon, Victoria Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon is a city within the City of Latrobe....	Loy Yang Power	38.252°S 146.574°E	Lignite	?	nil	Loy Yang Power Station Loy Yang Power Station, Victoria Loy Yang Power Station is a brown coal fired power station located on the outskirts of the city of Traralgon, in south eastern Victoria, Australia. Loy Yang is a base load supply station, and produces about one third of Victoria's electricity requirements...	Open Cut
Moorvale	QLD	Moranbah	Macarthur Coal	21.990°S 148.354°E	Thermal/PCI	?	?	?	Open Cut
Mount Arthur Coal (MAC)	NSW	Muswellbrook	BHP Billiton	32.3335°S 151.87667°E	Thermal	15	12	?	Open Cut
Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW)	NSW	Singleton	Coal & Allied	32.625°S 151.090°E	Thermal/Coking	?	?	?	Open Cut
Moranbah North	QLD	Moranbah	Anglo American	21.874°S 147.964°E	Hard Coking Coal	4.5	?	?	Underground
Morwell	VIC	Morwell Morwell, Victoria -Transport:The main form of transport in Morwell is the automobile. The Princes Freeway now bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east-west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other...	International Power International Power International Power PLC is an international electricity generator formed in 2000 by the demerger of National Power. It is headquartered at Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London...	38.272705°S 146.391662°E	Lignite	20	nil	Hazelwood Power Station Hazelwood Power Station, Victoria Hazelwood Power Station, in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia is a brown coal fueled base-load power station built between 1964 and 1971. The power station is of 1,600 megawatt capacity, and supplies up to 25% of Victoria's base load electricity and more than 5% of Australia's total energy... , Energy Brix	Open Cut
Norwich Park	QLD	Dysart	BMA	22.78°S 148.480°E	Soft Coking Coal	6	all	?	Open Cut
Newlands	QLD	Glenden	Xstrata	21.212°S 147.890°E	Thermal/Coking	12	?	?	Open Cut & Underground
Peak Downs Peak Downs Mine Peak Downs is a large open cut coking coal mine in Queensland located 31 km SSE of Moranbah. Peak Downs is one of seven mines in Bowen Basin owned by BMA, Australia’s largest coal miner and exporter. Production at Peak Downs started in 1972....	QLD	Moranbah	BMA	22.237°S 148.012°E	Hard Coking Coal	13	all	?	Open Cut
Saraji	QLD	Dysart	BMA	22.362°S 148.290°E	Hard Coking Coal	7.5	all	?	Open Cut
Ulan	NSW	Ulan via Mudgee	Xstrata	32.244°S 149.749°E	Thermal	5	?	?	Open Cut & Underground
Wesfarmers Premier Coal	WA	Collie	Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is one of Australia’s largest public companies and one of Australia's largest retailers. Its headquarters are in Perth, Western Australia....	33.411°S 116.239°E	Bitumous	3.5	nil	Synergy Power	Open Cut
Yallourn	VIC	Yallourn Yallourn, Victoria Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of the adjacent open-cut brown coal mine led to the closure...	TRUenergy TRUenergy TRUenergy is an energy company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Founded in 1995 as a retailer and generator of electricity, and a retailer of natural gas, the company is formed from the combination of retail and generation assets purchased by Hong Kong-based CLP from Singapore Power...	38.1784°S 146.3391°E	Lignite	?	nil	Yallourn Power Station Yallourn Power Station, Victoria Yallourn Power Station was a complex of six brown coal fuelled power stations built progressively from the 1920s to the 1960s. Located in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, the complex was situated beside the Latrobe River, with the company town of Yallourn located to the south west...	Open Cut
Bulga Coal Bulga Coal Bulga Coal Pty Limited is a coal-mining company based in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia. The company operates two mines Bulga Surface Operations and Beltana Longwall Mining which form the Bulga Coal Complex. The company is a joint venture between Oakbridge Pty Ltd and Nippon Oil Australia...	NSW	Singleton	Oakbridge Group (Managed by Xstrata Coal)	32.65°S 151.07°E	Thermal/Coking	10.8	All	Japan, Nippon Steal, Nippon Oil	Open Cut

Major export markets for Australian coal

**Major Export Markets For Australian Coal (2008–2009)**
Country/Area	Million Tons Coking	Million Tons Steaming	Million Tons Total	Rank	% of exports
Japan	43.3	61.5	104.8	1	39.8
Korea (ROK)	15.1	27.9	43.1	2	16.3
Taiwan	6.1	20.0	26.1	3	9.9
China	15.5	9.5	25.0	4	9.5
India	23.8	0.9	24.7	5	9.4
Europe	18.6	2.3	20.9	6	7.9

Major coal export ports

**Major Australian Coal Export Ports**
Port	State	Million Tons 2009	Million Tons 2008
Newcastle Newcastle, New South Wales The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...	NSW	92.8	91.4
Hay Point Hay Point, Queensland Hay Point is a small town located approximately 40 kilometres south of the city of Mackay, Queensland, Australia. It is made up of two bulk coal terminals, Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, owned by Prime Infrastructure Holdings and Brookfield Asset Management , and Hay Point Services Coal Terminal,...	QLD	82.4	80.4
Gladstone Gladstone, Queensland - Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...	QLD	56.2	54.1
Abbot Point Abbot Point Abbot Point is the most northerly deepwater coal port of Australia, situated 25 kilometres north of Bowen, Queensland. It consists of a rail in-loading facility, coal handling and stockpile areas, and a single trestle jetty and conveyor connected to a berth and shiploader, located 2.75km off-shore...	QLD	14.4	12.5
Port Kembla Port Kembla, New South Wales Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 8 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex , a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point, first sighted...	NSW	13.7	13.3
Brisbane Port of Brisbane Port of Brisbane is the shipping port of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. It is located in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River on reclaimed land that was once called Fisherman Islands at the mouth of the river. It currently is the third busiest port in Australia and the nation's...	QLD	6.3	5.5

Major coal mining companies

**Major Australian Coal Mining Companies)**
Company	Main Mines	Total Coal Mined (Million Tons)
Anglo American Metallurgical Coal Ltd	a. Anglo Coal Callide Mine, Queensland b. Anglo Coal Capcoal Mine Via Middlemount Middlemount QLD c. Anglo Coal Dartbrook Mine PO Box 517 Muswellbrook NSW 2333 d. Anglo Coal Drayton Mine PMB 9 Muswellbrook NSW e. Anglo Coal Foxleigh Mine PO Box 21 Middlemount QLD f. Anglo Coal Grasstree Mine Via Middlemount Private Mail Bag Middlemount QLD g. Anglo Coal Moranbah North Mine PO Box 172 Moranbah QLD h Dawson mine, one of Queensland’s leading export coal operations, is owned by the Moura Joint Venture, comprising Anglo Coal Australia Pty Ltd (51 %) and Mitsui Coal Holdings Pty Ltd (49 %)	32.0
Bloomfield Collieries Pty Ltd	Bloomfield at East Maitland and Rix’s Creek at Singleton	0.88
BHP Billiton - Hunter Valley Energy Coal	Mount Arthur Coal, Muswellbrook, Hunter Valley NSW	15.0 (FY2009 est.)
BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) Coal Operations Pty Ltd	a. Blackwater b.Broadmeadow Mine c. Goonyella Riverside Goonyella Riverside Mine Goonyella Riverside is a large open cut coking coal mine in Queensland located 30 km North of Moranbah.The area is mainly used for coal mining. The coal is well known for its great coking characteristics.... d. Gregory Crinum e. Peak Downs Mine Peak Downs Mine Peak Downs is a large open cut coking coal mine in Queensland located 31 km SSE of Moranbah. Peak Downs is one of seven mines in Bowen Basin owned by BMA, Australia’s largest coal miner and exporter. Production at Peak Downs started in 1972.... f. Saraji Mine g. South Walker Creek Mine h. Poitrel Mine is situated south-east of the town of Moranbah i. Hay Point Coal Terminal, located 38 km south of Mackay	58.0
Centennial Coal Company Ltd	Newstan, Awaba, Myuna, Mandalong, Mannering, Angus Place, Springvale, Charbon, Berrima, Clarence, Cooranbong (Closed), Munmorah (Closed)	?
Coalpac Pty Ltd	Cullen Valley Mine located in the Western Coalfield of New South Wales, Australia	1.2
Cornwall Coal Company	NE Tasmania	0.725
Donaldson Coal Pty Ltd	Hunter Valley	2.5
Enhance Place Pty Ltd	Colliery near Lithgow, NSW	0.2
Ensham Resources Pty Ltd	Pits A,B,C & D either side of the Nogoa River - referred to as the ‘Ensham Project’ - and the ‘Yongala’ pit, which is located approximately 5 km to the north of the main Ensham operation	9.0
Felix Resources Limited	a. Singleton in the Hunter Valley b. Central Queensland’s Bowen Basin c. Emerald in Queensland’s Bowen Basin d. The Moolarben coal project is a world class coal asset located 40 km east of Mudgee in the Upper Hunter Valley e.Harrybrandt exploration project, near Nebo in Queensland’s Bowen Basin	3.9
Foxleigh Joint Venture	Central Queensland	?
Gloucester Coal Ltd	Stratford and Duralie, both located in the Gloucester Geological Basin	1.9
Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd	western Bowen Basin	8.0
BHPBilliton Illawarra Coal	Appin, Westcliff & Dendrobium Collieries in the Illawarra and Wollondilly regions south of Sydney, New South Wales	8
Jellinbah Resources Pty Ltd	Jellinbah East Mine in the Bowen Basin of central Queensland	4.0
Lithgow Coal Company Pty Ltd	Cullen Valley Mine located in the Western Coalfield of New South Wales	1.0
Macarthur Coal Limited	Queensland¡¯s Bowen Basin	5.5
Muswellbrook Coal Company Ltd	a. Drayton Mine – is an open-cut coal mine operated by Anglo Coal (Drayton Management) Pty Ltd. It is located approximately 13 kilometres south east of Muswellbrook	?
New Hope Corporation Ltd	Acland on the Darling Downs and at Rosewood near Ipswich	3.92
Peabody Pacific Pty Ltd	a.Burton mine is located in the Bowen Basin b. North Goonyella underground and Eaglefield open-cut mines are located at the northern end of the Bowen Basin c. Millennium mine is located near the town of Moranbah in the Bowen Basin d. Wilkie Creek mine is located in the Surat Basin of south-east Queensland e. Wilpinjong mine is located 10 kilometres south-east of Ulan mine and 40 kilometres north-east of Mudgee f.Wambo is one of Peabody's largest operating mines and is located in the Hunter Valley g. Chain Valley is located in the Newcastle coalfield on the southern shore of Lake Macquarie h. Metropolitan is located in the Southern coalfields, about 50 kilometres south of Sydney.	22.0
Rio Tinto Coal Australia Pty Ltd	Blair Athol, Hail Creek and Kestrel Mines and is currently constructing the Clermont Mine Project, all in Queensland and in New South Wales, Rio Tinto Coal Australia manages Coal & Allied's operations at Mount Thorley Warkworth, Hunter Valley Operations and Bengalla	5.8
Vale	(a) Integra Coal, Hunter Valley, open cast and underground mines, 61.2% owned by Vale. (b) Carborough Downs Mine, Central Queensland, underground longwall mine owned 80% by Vale. (c) Isaac Plains Joint Venture, Central Queensland, open cast mine owned 50% by Vale.	8.0
Wesfarmers Coal Ltd	a. Curragh mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin b. Premier Coal mine at Collie in Western Australia’s south west c. Bengalla mine in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales	2.157
Whitehaven Coal Mining Pty Ltd	Gunnedah Region of New South Wales	1.0
Xstrata Coal Pty Ltd	a. Westside, New South Wales, Australia b. West Wallsend, New South Wales Australia c. Bulga, New South Wales d. Beltana, New South Wales e. Narama, New South Wales f.Mangoola, Hunter Valley, New South Wales g.Mount Owen - The Mount Owen Complex consists of the Mount Owen, Ravensworth East and Glendell open cut coal mines h.Ravensworth, New South Wales i.Ulan Coal m. Baal Bone, New South Wales j. Cumnock, New South Wales k. Narama, New South Wales	29.3

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

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...

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 NSW Land & Environment Court 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.

Clean coal technologies

The Federal Government

Rudd Government

The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...

has, as part of its pledge to mitigate global warming

Global warming

, committed A$100 million to commission a climate change

Climate change

-fighting "clean coal

Clean coal

Historically used to refer to technologies for reducing emissions of ash, sulfur, and heavy metals from coal combustion; the term is now commonly used to refer to carbon capture and storage technology...

" 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 believes it is a vital technology given Australia's reliance on coal-fired electricity.

External links

"Sonoma Coal" - Sonoma Coal Project
"Illawarra Coal" - An unofficial history of coal mining in the Illawarra
worldenergy.org
"Collinsville Coalface Experience" http://www.coalfaceexperience.com.au
Can geosequestration save the coal industry?

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