Category Archives: Coal

Mercury pollution at Eraring power plant rose 130% in 12 months

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Environment groups say increased pollution levels means it would be ‘absurd and harmful’ to extend life of Eraring, which is due to close in August 2025

Mercury and particulate pollution from Australia’s largest coal-fired power station soared last year, prompting an environmental group to argue it would be “absurd and harmful” for the New South Wales government to extend its operations.

Origin Energy’s 2,880-megawatt Eraring power station, slated by the company to close in August 2025, reported mercury pollution jumped 130% in 2022-23 compared with the previous year, according to data from the national pollution inventory. The heavy metal permanently damages brains and kidneys, especially those of children.

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NSW may be forced to pay $150m a year to extend life of coal-fired plant, energy expert predicts

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‘If ever there was a perfect case-study of the negative impacts on taxpayers of privatisation of strategic public assets, Eraring is it’, Tim Buckley says

New South Wales may end up paying $150m a year to subsidise the extension of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power plant, money better spent accelerating the take-up of rooftop solar with storage, Tim Buckley, an energy analyst said.

It comes as the Labor government will on Thursday announce $1bn for solar panel manufacturing in Australia, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, travelling to the Hunter region to spruik the government’s new Net Zero Economy Authority.

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Queensland farming lobby launches legal challenge against Great Artesian Basin carbon capture trial

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AgForce is seeking a judicial review of a 2022 decision that found the project did not need to be assessed under federal environmental laws

Queensland farming body AgForce has launched legal action against the federal government in a bid to stop liquified carbon dioxide from being pumped into the Great Artesian Basin.

The Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation (CTSCo), a subsidiary of mining giant Glencore, is awaiting state government approval for a pilot scheme to inject Co2 emitted by a coal-fired power station in southern Queensland into underground water aquifers as part of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project trial.

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Federal government approval the final hurdle for mega Queensland coalmine

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Queensland government approves Winchester South mine despite report warning of potential ‘climate change consequences’

The Queensland government has approved a mega coalmine project which environmentalists say poses “unacceptable threats” to Queenslanders’ human rights.

The project now goes for federal approval, where it could become the biggest coalmine given the green light since the Albanese government came to power.

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Australia urged not to rely on ‘drug dealer’s defence’ for gas exports and help wean Japan off fossil fuels

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Diplomats for Climate group says if government wants to use that defence ‘it needs to be the dealer who takes their clients to rehab and supports them off their habit’

The Albanese government should do more to leverage its relationship with Japan – arguably the world’s most important energy partnership – to help its trading partner move away from gas and towards a rapid and ambitious decarbonisation, former diplomats say.

Diplomats for Climate, an organisation supported by more than 100 former Australian officials, says “the future of gas lies in the ground”, but that a ban on new fossil fuel developments – the focus of a growing community campaign backed by scientific evidence – would not cut global emissions unless international demand was reduced.

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US coal power plants killed at least 460,000 people in past 20 years – report

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Pollution caused twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, with updated understanding of dangers of PM2.5

Coal-fired power plants killed at least 460,000 Americans during the past two decades, causing twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, new research has found.

Cars, factories, fire smoke and electricity plants emit tiny toxic air pollutants known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5, which elevate the risk of an array of life-shortening medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, low birth weight and some cancers.

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Australia news live: Minns says NSW police response to pro-Palestine rally will be ‘reasonable and proportionate’; voice referendum latest updates

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Follow today’s news live, including the latest updates on the voice referendum

A strong no vote could hold back reforms in Indigenous affairs, Wyatt says

Ken Wyatt said he doesn’t think the government has made a mistake deciding against legislating the voice if the referendum is defeated, but he fears what a strong no vote will mean for the future of Indigenous affairs:

We’ve got to respect what Australians are saying if there is an overwhelming no majority …

The fear I have now is with a strong no, whether the government will become reticent to be adventurous on doing significant reforms in the future in the Aboriginal affairs portfolio, and on programs and policies that could reshape the landscape of Aboriginal affairs and the way in which Aboriginal people access the plethora of services that we all take for granted across this nation as our inherent right.

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Australia needs climate trigger laws, conservation groups say after failed challenge to coalmines

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Calls come after federal court dismisses legal action against environment minister’s decisions on two mine expansions

Conservation groups say Australia’s environment laws must be changed to include a climate trigger after the federal court dismissed a legal challenge against the environment minister’s decisions on two proposed coalmine expansions.

Known as the living wonders case, the legal action launched by the Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) alleged the minister, Tanya Plibersek, failed to protect the environment from climate harm when she decided the projects could move the next stage of the federal assessment process.

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Australia news live: Elise Archer resigns from Tasmanian parliament after ultimatum from premier; fire tears through Kings Cross hostel

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Jeremy Rockliff writes to Elise Archer asking that she advise whether she will remain in parliament

No property loss in hunter region bushfires, NSW RFS deputy commissioner says

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, NSW RFS deputy commissioner Peter McAfee also provided an update on the bushfires in the Hunter region.

So some really great saves by firefighters in really challenging conditions.

We still have some high fire danger days right across northern NSW with with extreme up in the north-west, so it’s not over this period of fire activity, but some good news to see that change moving through the southern part of the state.

It really was a serious incident there right into the evening, with crews protecting properties throughout.

We’ll have our teams in there at daylight this morning. They’re already getting in there, just looking at exactly what’s occurred. It’s [was] too dangerous to do all that work overnight.

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NSW to enter talks to extend life of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station

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Opponents call on Minns government to use the funds it would pay Origin to instead hasten rollout of rooftop solar and batteries

The Minns government will “engage” with the owner of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for a “temporary” extension of its operating life, prioritising short-term energy security over emissions reductions.

A final cost and length of extending operations of the 2,880-megawatt Eraring power plant near Newcastle would hinge on negotiations with owner Origin Energy, the government said on Tuesday.

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China continues coal spree despite climate goals

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World’s biggest carbon emitter approving equivalent of two new coal plants a week, analysis shows

China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, a rate energy watchdogs say is unsustainable if the country hopes to achieve its energy targets.

The government has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, and in 2021 the president, Xi Jinping, promised to stop building coal powered plants.

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NSW delays decision about future of country’s biggest power station until after energy security review

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Owner Origin Energy say ‘nothing has changed’ on plan to shut the coal-fired Eraring plant no sooner than August 2025

The New South Wales government says it will hold off any decision about the future of the country’s largest power station until at least next month, after it receives a “health check” on the state’s energy security.

Origin Energy, owner of the 2880MW Eraring plant near Lake Macquarie, also said on Friday that “nothing had changed” on the plan to shut the coal-fired power station no sooner than August 2025.

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New Zealand announces its biggest emissions reduction project in history

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Move to power Glenbrook steel plant with electricity from renewables rather than coal will reduce emissions by 1% – or the equivalent of taking 300,000 cars off the road

New Zealand has announced its largest emissions reduction project in history, transitioning from coal to renewable electricity at the country’s major steel plant in a move that the government says is equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road.

The government will spend $140m on halving the coal used at Glenbrook steel plant to recycle scrap steel, replacing that generating power with an electric-powered furnace. The plant will contribute $160m to the project’s cost.

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New US rules could stem emissions from coal and gas power plants

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Environmental groups laud the regulation, which would advance clean power in the US – if it survives expected legal challenges

The US is set to impose new carbon pollution standards upon its coal- and gas-fired power plants, in a move that the Biden administration has hailed as a major step in confronting the climate crisis.

Under new rules put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), new and existing power plants will have to meet a range of new standards to cut their emissions of planet-heating gases. This, the EPA predicts, will spur facilities to switch to cleaner energy such as wind and solar, install rarely used carbon capture technology or shut down entirely.

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China ramps up coal power despite carbon neutral pledges

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Local governments approved more coal power in first three months of 2023 than all of 2021

Local governments in China approved more new coal power in the first three months of 2023 than in the whole of 2021, according to official documents.

The approvals, analysed by Greenpeace, reveal that between January and March this year, at least 20.45 gigawatts of coal power was approved, up from 8.63GW in the same period in 2022. In the whole of 2021, 18GW of coal was approved.

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Dozens of climate activists arrested after shovelling coal from train bound for Newcastle

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Police charged about 50 protesters after coal train was brought to a standstill for four hours

Dozens of people have been arrested after protesters scaled a train bound for the Port of Newcastle and began shovelling coal out of its wagons.

The train was brought to a standstill a few kilometres from the port while passing Sandgate, near the Pacific Highway, about 10am on Sunday.

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Turning out the lights: what is the legacy of the Liddell power station?

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In the first of a two-part report, we look at the successes – and the costs – of what once was Australia’s largest power station

Jackson Channon, an electrician at the Liddell power station, counts “three generations of generation” who worked at the Hunter Valley site, including a grandad who drove cement trucks used to build it and parents who first met while on staff.

Come 29 April, Channon will attend the closure of the AGL Energy coal-fired facility, joining hundreds of current and former staff, community members and even artists marking the end of what was Australia’s biggest power plant when it was built 52 years ago.

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NSW to grant coalmines licences for water from Sydney and Illawarra drinking catchments

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Perrottet government quietly gazetted rules day before caretaker period commenced for election campaign

The Perrottet government has introduced new rules that will grant coalmines licences for water from the drinking catchment for Sydney and the Illawarra region.

The government quietly gazetted the rules a day before the caretaker period commenced for the New South Wales election campaign.

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Labor meets Greens demand for ban on reconstruction fund investment in coal, gas and native logging

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Deal secures passage of NRF bill through lower house and provides likely pathway to pass it in Senate

The Albanese government has agreed to the Greens’ demands to ban the national reconstruction fund from direct investment in coal, gas and native logging projects.

The deal secured the passage of the NRF bill through the lower house on Thursday and gives Labor a likely pathway to pass it in the Senate with the support of the Greens and crossbench in late March.

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China approves biggest expansion in new coal power plants since 2015, report finds

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Concerns about energy shortages drive increase as projects progress at ‘extraordinary’ speed

China approved the construction of another 106 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity last year, four times higher than a year earlier and the highest since 2015, research shows.

Over the year, 50GW of coal power capacity went into construction across the country – up by more than half compared with the previous year – driven by energy security considerations, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said on Monday.

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