Democratic Senator torpedoes Biden climate bill for 2021: In an interview on Fox News, West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced he will not support President Biden’s Build Back Better Act. The bill includes new programs supporting wind and solar deployment and transmission upgrades. The House of Representatives had passed a bill proposing US$2.1 trillion in new spending over ten years. In a media statement, Manchin, who continues to earn income from a coal company he founded, claimed the energy provisions in the bill “risk the reliability of our electric grid” and would boost renewables deployment “at a rate that is faster than technology or the markets allow.” President Biden’s spokesperson, Jen Psaki, stated Manchin’s claims on the climate provisions were “wrong” and vowed to pursue the bill again in 2022. (Utility Dive, New York Times, Nature, Senator Joe Manchin, The White House)

Indian court orders coal mine rehabilitation funds to be set aside: The National Green Tribunal, an Indian court for environmental law cases, has ordered Hindalco Industries and Raipur Energen to pay 100 million rupees (US$1.32 million) toward rehabilitation of a “critically polluted” area around the Talabira-I coal mine in Odisha. Hindalco is an Indian aluminium smelting company, while Raipur Energen, a subsidiary of Adani, also operates the 1370 MW Raikheda coal plant in the adjoining state of Chhattisgarh. NGOs argue it is rare for closed coal mines in India to be rehabilitated, with communities typically left to deal with significant impacts on the land and poor air and water quality.  The companies are considering appealing against the decision. (AAJTv)

Russia coal baron to face charges over mine explosion: Mikhail Fedyaev, the co-owner of SDS-Ugol, has been arrested on charges of breaching safety rules over the blast at the Listvyazhnaya mine at which 51 miners and rescuers were killed in November. Three senior managers at the mine have also been arrested. All four have pleaded not guilty but could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. (Reuters)

Indian utilities complain of declining coal quality: Coal India, which produces about 80 per cent of India’s coal, has acknowledged the quality of the coal it sells to customers can be below the specified average grade. Coal India has 17 specified grades. “The recent trend is toward a deterioration in quality instead of improvement,” said Ashok Khurana, the CEO of the Association of Power Producers (APP). The lobby group represents private power companies, including Reliance, Adani and JSW. Rupesh Sankhe from Elara Capital India said supplying poor-quality coal increased generator costs and resulted in Coal India being dragged into disputes with its customers. (BloombergQuint)

Indonesian coal-to-gas project inches forward with Chinese backing: Indonesia’s Powerindo Cipta Energy and state-owned China National Chemical Engineering Corporation announced in October 2021 they will undertake a feasibility study into a US$560 million coal-to-methanol gasification plant in Aceh province. The announcement runs counter to China’s September commitment to end the funding of overseas coal projects. Andri Prasetiyo from Trend Asia, an Indonesian NGO, warned that China’s support for the Ache project could open the door to more Chinese financing of other gasification projects. (Mongabay)

IEA reports coal use growth after COVID-19 rebound: The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Coal 2021 report estimates total coal consumption will increase by six per cent in 2021 to 7.9 billion tonnes after a 4.4 per cent decline in 2020. The IEA attributes the growth this year to a rebound in demand in China, India and the US after a decline in 2020 caused by COVID-19 restrictions. The IEA notes the bulk of the increased consumption is concentrated in China (up 159 million tonnes), India (up 125 million tonnes) and the United States (up 74 million tonnes). The IEA estimates metallurgical coal consumption will increase by only two million tonnes in 2021, with future growth contingent on increased electric arc furnace production of steel and the rate of deployment of hydrogen-based furnaces. The report acknowledges comments on the draft report from members of the IEA Coal Industry Advisory Board, a group of coal industry executives. (International Energy Agency)

Australia: NSW grants the Vales Point coal plant a five-year exemption from air quality standards.

US: Jacksonville Waterways Commission considers banning coal ash imports into Florida after a barge accident.

Buyers shun most Indian coal blocks up for auction: India’s Ministry of Coal has revealed only 10 of the 88 potential coal mines have attracted sufficient bids to allow the latest auction to proceed. The auction of these blocks will commence on January 7, 2022. Bidders include the aluminium smelting company Hindalco Industries, Vedanta, Jindal Power, JSW and government-owned Singareni Collieries. Ten coal blocks attracted only one bid, with the remainder attracting no interest at all, resulting in the auction of the blocks annulled. The ministry has also announced a further auction of 99 coal blocks, including blocks that attracted no or low interest from earlier auctions. (Mint, Ministry of Coal [Pdf])

Blackouts prompt debate over the fate of old Serbian lignite plants: The breakdown of Serbia’s two biggest coal plants on December 12 left 126,000 consumers without power and forced Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) to rely on record levels of imported power costing €10 million per day. The breakdowns have been attributed to poor quality lignite. President Aleksandar Vucic said he should have started the construction of the 350 MW Kostolac B3 unit sooner and not scrapped plans for the 350 MW Kolubara B coal plant suspended in May 2021. Professor Nikola Rajakovic from the University of Belgrade said the old lignite units should be retired when new renewables or other capacity has been commissioned. (Balkan Green Energy News)

Anglo American negotiates higher emissions limit for coal mine: Documents obtained by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) have revealed Anglo American exceeded emissions limits for its Capcoal metallurgical mine ​​in Queensland by at least 841,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Under a policy introduced in 2016-17 large industrial emitters must buy carbon credits when emissions exceed an approved baseline. The ACF estimates that if the policy had been enforced, it would have cost Anglo American about A$50 million (US$35.6 million). While the company said it had sufficient carbon credits to cover its liability, the ACF said the company had negotiated a series of changes to permit it to release 54 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions than allowed five years ago. (Guardian, Australian Conservation Foundation)

Australian agency estimates renewables with firming outpace coal: The draft edition of the 2021-22 edition of GenCost report by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, estimates renewables are far cheaper than alternatives after allowing for integration costs of storage, transmission and grid services, even at levels of 90 percent wind and solar in the grid. The report estimates the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) from a black coal plant fitted with carbon capture and storage at between A$162 per MW/h and A$211 per MW/h in 2030. This compares to the LCOE cost of wind and solar, including integration costs, at between A$46 and A$67 per megawatt-hour (MW/h). The report estimates wind and solar will outcompete all other low-emission technologies in 2030. The closest rival is solar thermal with 8 hours storage, estimated to cost between A$115 and A$166 per MW/h. The cost of small modular nuclear reactors, which have not yet been commercially deployed, was estimated at between A$134 and A$326 per MW/h. (RenewEconomy, CSIRO)

US regulator launches inquiry into utility trade association expenses: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a US agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, has launched an inquiry into whether utility payments to trade associations and other groups should be excluded from being charged to electricity consumers. FERC currently excludes direct lobbying and political expenses from being recovered but allows recovery of payments to trade associations. Early this year, the Center for Biological Diversity launched a legal petition requesting that FERC modify the approved accounting system to treat payments for trade associations such as the Edison Electric Institute as non-recoverable unless demonstrated to serve a clear public interest. The inquiry comes in the wake of scandals such as FirstEnergy’s support for a US$61 million campaign to bail out coal and nuclear plants, and the support by utility trade associations for the January 6^th, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally. (Utility Dive, Center for Biological Diversity [Pdf]), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)

Russian mining conglomerate to spin off its coal division: Evraz, a prominent Russian steel and mining company, has announced it will spin off its coal mining division to operate as an independent company in late 2022. In 2020 Raspadskaya (RASP), Evraz’s coal subsidiary, produced 19.3 million tonnes of metallurgical coal, with just over one-third supplied to the company’s steel mills.  The company operates eight underground mines, two surface mines and three processing facilities. In April, Evraz said a demerger of its coal assets will allow each business to chart its course based on environmental, social and governance priorities, a reference to the increasing pressure on banks and insurance companies to cut support for coal companies. (Mining Weekly, Evraz)

Adani nears first exports from Carmichael coal mine: The first shipment of coal from Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Queensland will be exported by the end of the year, eight years after the company first proposed the project. Julien Vincent, executive director of Market Forces, said the group will continue to seek the end of the project. “There’s no asterisk or caveat or fine print. There’s no conditions. It’s just Stop Adani,” he said. As the Carmichael project is the first mine in the basin, which contains an estimated 23 billion tonnes of thermal coal, establishing a railway connection to an export coal terminal could open the door for other projects in the Galilee Basin. (Guardian)

Coal 2021, International Energy Agency, December 2021. (Pdf)

This 127-page report provides a detailed overview of coal industry production and consumption trends, albeit with a pro-coal slant.