Other sites, though, are still licensed to be burning coal until the back half of the 2040s, or even the 2050s, putting Australia at odds with a growing chorus of world leaders calling for a markedly more urgent phase-out plan.
AGL, which accounts for 8 per cent of Australia’s total emissions, says nine years is not nearly enough time for replacement capacity to be invested in, built and plugged into the grid. “You would have to do a hell of a lot of things in the shorter-term that you otherwise would only have done in the longer term,” he says.
“We will still need electricity, and coal will be part of the mix for the next 10 years minimum, I would say … but it will be a diminishing part and, as coal communities, we need to accept that.” NSW thermal coal has rallied this year to $US180 a tonne – a 10-year-high, and a sign of enduring near-term demand despite accelerating emissions goals globally. Yet BHP’s Mt Arthur predicament tells much about the longer-term problems plaguing the sector.
The same way the other significant industries died in Australia. Large corporations suck government money like ticks (with false promises) until filled and dropping off leaving the host (Australian taxpayers) worse off than before.
Outsized influence = 70% of the nation’s electricity 🤔
Remember when “trade with China” and “eco-tourism” we're going to save the farm? Well, that dated well.
Meanwhile Europe restarting coal fired power as renewables simply unable to supply base load, even before winter