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The end is nigh for coal

Global coal reserves will soon peak and fall into terminal decline, according to an article published in this week's edition of New Scientist. The article backs up recent reports of the same conclusion and heralds the imminent end of global reliance on coal.

This should inspire a change in direction for communities and nations that continue to rely on coal for their development, according to Newcastle climate activist group Rising Tide.

“Communities and nations that plan their future around coal are heading for a brick wall,” said Steve Phillips of climate action group Rising Tide Newcastle. “The combination of a global climate change emergency, and the imminent end of cheap coal, make it impossible for coal to remain a major source of global energy into the future.”

“Australia is already the world's biggest exporter of coal, and every coal port in the country is expanding. Coal companies have been given approval to double their exports from the biggest coal port in the world at Newcastle. Clearly, decision-makers in Australia see coal as the way of the future.

"But contrary to what coal lobbyists such as the Minerals Council will have you believe, coal is a dead end. That is a hard physical fact, and the end is closer than we think.

“This article shows that coal -dominated societies like ours must make an urgent choice. One option is to continue our reliance on a dirty and unsustainable industry that is dangerously altering the world's climate, and which must end soon due to geolocially realities, regardless of all of other concerns.”

“But the only real option is to place an immediate moratorium on coal developments, and develop an urgent and detailed plan for a future based based on renewable energy and sustaiable industries.”

The article, “The great coal hole”, by David Strahan, is published in the latest print edition of New Scientist. The online edition, “Coal: Bleak outlook for the black stuff”, is available at http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/mg19726391.800-coal-bleak-outlook-for-the-black-stuff.html


The article is quite right

Submitted by Mr Thermal on 29 October 2008 - 8:19pm.

The article is quite right when it refers to coal as we know it. That is, thermal, PCI and coking coals.
However, there are massive reserves of sub-bitumous coal, mainly in South Australia. The Ghan railway is set, in the future, to send vast amounts of coal from tenements at Phillipson (5 billion tonnes) and Arckaringa and Penrhyn Trough (11 billion tonnes).
Plans are already underway for a diesel oil from coal plant from Arckaringa.
NRGF Flinders Power Partnership (NRGF), that operates the coal-fired power generation plant at Port Augusta, is set to mine coal from tenement EL2717, RL100 and RL104 in the Phillipson Basin.
It has been said, that coal reserves in South Australia are enough to power all Australia for over 1,000 years.

And?

Submitted by naught101 on 6 November 2008 - 9:06am.
  1. "It has been said" - them's weasel words . Who said it? Were they qualified to say it, and do they have any vested interest in saying it?
  2. Diesel is peaking already - globally.
  3. Sub-bituminous coal is even worse for the climate than brown coal, is probably already far less economically efficient than wind power, solar thermal or geothermal, and if a price ever gets put on carbon, will also likely be beaten by PV, wave and tide power.