NSW coal will run out before "clean coal"
The Hunter Community Environment Centre has revealed that if the NSW coal industry continues to expand at the rate it has for the last 10 years, the coal reserves will be exhausted in just 35 years. At that time, so-called "clean coal" technology will still be in its infancy .
Clearly, the promise of "clean coal" is irrelevent to the debate about the future of the NSW export coal industry.
The Hunter Community Environment Centre press release.
Comments
As a geologist, I can tell
As a geologist, I can tell you that coal Reserves will not run out. Coal Reserves are not 100% drilled out and delineated in advance. There is no cost benefit to declaring Reserves past 2040. Hence, companies have known coal "resources" that will not be declared for some time in the future. There is certainly no shortage of coal in the world, believe me.
"coal Reserves will not run
"coal Reserves will not run out"? What, ever? That seems like a ridiculous thing for a professed scientist to assert, if you don't mind me saying so. It is self-evident that economical coal reserves will run out if coal continues to be consumed, it's just a question of when.
You say that "there is no shortage of coal in the world", but I'd like to know what evidence you're basing that on. Because as this article explains, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the amount of coal in the ground. Despite the common beleif that there is "hundreds of years" left, peak-coal may arrive in as little as 15 years (according to one recent study).
When consumption is growing exponentially (as with coal), basing reserve estimates on current consumption means nothing. Also, if "clean coal" ever emerges from fairy land into the real world, it will increase coal consumption (per unit of energy generated) by up to 40%. So the stuff will disappear even faster.
What all this means is that, while activists like Rising Tide are often told how unrealistic it is for the world to stop relying coal, in reality it is unrealistic, indeed impossible, for the world to continue relying on coal for decades into the future. We may as well plan our way out now.
"coal Reserves will not run
Anyway all this is irrelevant because if come anywhere near using the know coal reserves we with be either cooked or living in the sub-arctic tropical rain forests.
7.30 report April 7,
7.30 report April 7, 2008:
Going underground: carbon dioxide storage experiment: makes clear the degree of spin accompanying this technology: that, which was so near and so achievable is neither!
Still not mentioned is that Earth-system analysis shows pursuing this technology is a total waste of your and my time and resources, and insults our supposed intelligence.
The economic system must reflect the reality of the natural system; value our natural resources in the market through a central bank representing sustainability and future generations. The Reserve Bank does this for the relatively meaningless $.