Victoria has apx 430, 000, 000 000 tonnes of brown coal.
Should it be burn't?
Quote:Uses
Because of its low energy density and typically high moisture content, brown coal is inefficient to transport and is not traded extensively on the world market compared with higher coal grades. It is often burned in power stations constructed very close to any mines, such as in Australia's Latrobe Valley and Luminant's Monticello plant in Texas. Primarily because of latent high moisture content of brown coal, carbon dioxide emissions from traditional brown-coal-fired plants are generally much higher than for comparable black-coal plants, with the world's highest-emitting being Hazelwood Power Station, Victoria.[4] The operation of traditional brown-coal plants, particularly in combination with strip mining, can be politically contentious due to environmental concerns.[5][6]
Wikipedia
MASSIVE new stocks of Victorian coal will be exported to China, India and Japan in a multi-billion dollar plan that is expected to create thousands of new jobs and kick-start the economy.
The Baillieu Government is planning to unlock vast resources of brown coal in the Latrobe Valley in a controversial plan to fire overseas power stations and bring the resources boom to Victoria.
Energy Minister Michael O'Brien yesterday confirmed the Coalition was seeking expressions of interest for new allocations of coal that were hoped to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties, as well as billions of dollars of investment in mines, processing and infrastructure.
The move flies in the face of the Gillard Government's efforts to slow greenhouse gas emissions through the carbon tax and will inflame environmental groups and the Greens.
But Mr O'Brien said the Baillieu Government was determined to make the most of one of the world's biggest deposits of brown coal.
"The Government believes that brown coal can and should play a key role in our energy future," Mr O'Brien said.
"Encouraging new investors and the right technologies could deliver a new generation of industry in the Latrobe Valley, boosting the local economy and creating new jobs."
Victoria is sitting on an estimated 430 billion tonnes of brown coal, of which 33 billion tonnes could be unlocked from the Latrobe Valley.
But there are doubts about whether the technology needed to dry brown coal - which has a high water content - is advanced enough.
About 65 million tonnes of brown coal is mined in the Latrobe Valley for domestic use each year, but none is exported.
The Government yesterday said it would not speculate on how much additional coal it would allow to be mined until the outcome of the allocation tender process was completed.
But the Coalition claims interests from China, India and Japan are already lining up to buy the coal for low-emission activities including conversion to diesel oil and drying it for export.
The new arrangements are not expected to affect allocations already in place, including coal for the Hazelwood power station.
Victorian Greens MP Greg Barber said exporting Victorian coal would lead to onshore and offshore environmental damage as well as driving up the price for domestic power stations.
He also raised doubts about how interested overseas markets were in brown coal, which would be difficult to transport and provides less energy than black coal.
"Whether the pollution is in another country or Australia, it is doing great damage to the environment and it is quite likely to push up our own power prices in the process," he said.
"If they are exporting it dry there will be huge emissions in Victoria - just associated with getting it ready for export."
BROWN COAL - FAST FACTS
- Brown coal is soft brown fossil fuel used in steam-electric power generation;
- It has a low energy content and is high in moisture, which makes it difficult to transport over long distances;
- Its low levels of ash, sulphur, heavy metals and nitrogen, mean it's lower in impurities than other fossil fuels;
- It is highly volatile, making it easier to convert into gas and liquid petroleum;
- Victoria has one of the world's largest deposits of brown coal;
- Each year 65 million tonnes are mined from the Latrobe Valley for domestic use;
- More than 80 per cent of Victoria's 430 billion tonne brown coal deposit is located in the Gippsland Basin;
- None of Victoria's coal is currently exported, but groups in China, India and Japan have expressed interest.
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