Winds of change — the writing’s on the wall for coal
The International Energy Agency’s latest annual report on coal suggested that 2023 was the year of peak coal production, and it’s downhill from here. This will have significant implications for South African coal mining companies, writes Ed Stoddard in the Daily Maverick.
With Japan’s help, is Vietnam headed for a flawed energy transition?
Prior to her arrest, Ngo Thi To Nhien was director of a Hanoi-based sustainable energy think tank, who had been advocating for an end to the building of coal-fired power plants, writes Mara Budgen in Japan Times.
Pollution from a US coke works residents say they see that firsthand
It wasn’t until Germaine Gooden-Patterson began a job as a community health worker that she understood how much air pollution from burning metallurgical coal at the Clairton Coke Works in Pennsylvania was affecting her neighbours’ lives, write Kiley Bense and Victoria St. Martin in Inside Climate News.
How unplanned coal mine closures in India are affecting dependent communities, especially women
The closure of ten mines in Bijuri and Kotma municipalities of Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, has left around 5000 people unemployed, triggering social and economic challenges, especially for women, write Shuchita Jha and Flavia Lopes in Mongabay.
|
|
|
Data reveals companies funding major Indian political parties: Data released by the Electoral Commission of India has revealed that significant donors to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party over the last five years include companies with substantial coal mining and power projects including Vedanta, Haldia Energy and Torrent Power. Hindalco, a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, operates the 900 megawatt (MW) Mahan coal plant, the 725 MW Renusagar coal plant, the 367 MW Hirakud coal plant and the 900 MW Aditya plant. The company also operates three coal mines and has two further projects under development to supply the captive power stations. The Aditya Birla Group was also the largest donor to the governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, where the company’s coal, aluminium and iron ore projects are located. Between April 2019 and February 2024, the Aditya Birla Group gave 1.74 billion rupees (US$20.9 million) to the BJD. In late February, India’s Supreme Court ruled that electoral bonds were unconstitutional as they violated rights to information necessary for them to cast their ballots, which had allowed political parties to receive campaign contributions from donors without public disclosure. (LiveMint, The Wire, The Wire)
More charges laid against ex-Ohio Speaker over utility scandal: The Ohio Attorney General has filed 10 new charges against the former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, accusing him of not accurately completing ethics forms between 2017 and 2021 and failing to disclose gifts from lobbyists and legal costs associated with a challenge against a failed coal mine. Householder has been charged with using US$750,000 from his campaign account to pay legal fees related to his defence of federal charges. In June 2023, Householder was sentenced to a 20-year jail term after his conviction on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy. Householder is appealing his conviction. Householder was at the centre of the US$61 million bribery scandal in which FirstEnergy funded his and other supporters election campaigns in return for the passage of House Bill 6, which provided a US$1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear and two coal plants. In a separate case, John McCaffrey, the lawyer representing former FirstEnergy lobbyist Mike Dowling, confirmed that the utility is paying his client’s legal costs. Dowling faces charges of bribery, theft, and money laundering associated with the HB6 scandal. He has pled not guilty. (Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland.com)
Report details Australian coal sector’s water woes: A report by the Institute of Energy and Economic Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that the coal mining sector is subject to growing water-related risks, including high rainfall events in the key coal states of New South Wales and Queensland. IEEFA estimates that flooded mine pits from high rainfall events in 2022 cut coal production by 20 million tonnes. The amount of water the Australian coal mining sector consumes is unknown. IEEFA reports that over eight years, coal companies stole 12 billion litres of water, but penalties amounted to just A$9 million (US$5.9 million), a cost well below the water costs of other industrial users. The report also notes that 300 disused or abandoned coal mines in Australia are vulnerable to severe weather events, but the A$10 billion (US$6.6 billion) held in government bonds is unlikely to cover rehabilitation costs. IEEFA notes that not one large open-cut coal mine has been fully rehabilitated and the lease relinquished. (Institute of Energy and Economic Financial Analysis [Pdf])
Protest against water pollution from lignite mine in Pakistan: Hundreds of people formed a human chain around the Gorano Dam as a protest against the storage of wastewater from Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company’s Thar Block II lignite mine. The dam in Tharparkar district in Sindh province was built in 2016 to hold wastewater from the mine, but villagers say it has polluted about 55 wells around Gorano and caused the death of trees and stock. Despite claims of Sindh provincial agencies that the development of the Thar lignite projects is bringing development to the region, most villagers still lack access to clean water, and the amount of water from reverse osmosis plants is limited. (Dawn, The Friday Times, ChehraDigital)
South African court orders Eskom to disclose details of coal contracts: High Court Judge Leonie Windell has ordered Eskom to disclose by April 5 all its current contracts for the purchase and transport of coal and diesel as well as power exports to neighbouring countries. Afriforum applied for the documents in 2022 under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, but Eskom rejected the bulk of the request. Afriforum argued that coal is the largest purchase by the utility and that the Auditor-General had found major problems with Eskom’s management of fuel purchases. Eskom had released the contracts governing power exports but redacted the details of the price and other key information. Afriforum said the contracts may reveal possible irregularities and mismanagement by Eskom. (News24, Afriforum)
Concern over pollution from Indonesian coal plants co-fired with biomass: Residents living near the 990MW Indramayu coal plant owned by state-owned electricity utility PLN have expressed concern that co-firing the plant with sawdust is making air pollution worse. “After using biomass, the dust got even thicker,” said Dulmuin, a farmer who lives near the plant and is active in Indramayu Coal Smoke-free Network. Indonesia has promoted biomass-co-firing as part of its strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. PLN burned more than 1 million tonnes of biomass at 43 coal units in 2023, up 71 per cent on the year before. The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimates that PLN’s proposed co-firing with up to 20 per cent biomass at its plants would only cut emissions by up to 2.5 per cent, depending on the pollutant. CREA estimates the adoption of efficient emission control technology would cut nitrogen oxides by 64 per cent and dust emissions by 83 per cent. PLN has also suggested coal units could be co-fired with ammonia, but CREA estimates this would make pollution impacts worse. (Mongabay)
|
Australia: Yancoal’s proposed 8 million tonnes a year expansion of the Moolarben coal mine in New South Wales would result in clearing 115 hectares of “critical” koala habitat.
Australia: In 2021, a coalition of farmers and residents led Liberty Mutual to abandon its proposed Baralba South metallurgical coal mine. The project has been revived following the sale of the lease to American Metals and Coal International.
Australia: A Peabody Energy subsidiary pled guilty to two water pollution offences and a charge of failure to maintain equipment adequately. Pollution from the company’s Helensburgh mine flowed into the Hacking River in the Royal National Park.
Kosovo: The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide a €33 million (US$36 million) loan to state-owned Kosovo Energy Corporation for a 120 MW solar project on the former coal ash dump at the Kosovo A lignite plant.
Pakistan: Twelve workers were killed by an explosion in an underground coal mine in Harnai in Balochistan province.
South Africa: Richards Bay Coal Terminal has agreed to export coal from resumed operations at the Optimum coal mine, subject to the new owners, Liberty Coal, finalising a rail agreement with Transnet.
US: The US Energy Information Administration estimates US coal production to mid-March in 2024 is down 13.1 per cent to 107.6 million US short tons (97.6 million tonnes) compared to the same period in 2023.
US: The Department of Energy has awarded Rye Development a US$81 million grant towards the development of the 287 MW Lewis Ridge pumped storage project on former coal mining land in Kentucky.
US: Coal exports from CSX’s Curtis Island coal export terminal and Consol Energy’s terminal in Baltimore will be disrupted after a container ship caused the collapse of the bridge that spans the shipping channel in the Patapsco River.
|
Glencore abandons coal production cap: Glencore’s update to its Climate Action Transition Plan has retreated from previous commitments to reduce emissions and cap coal production. The company explicitly stated that its latest plan is not in line with the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero Emissions scenarios aimed at ensuring compliance with emissions reductions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. In February 2019, Glencore’s then-CEO Ivan Glasenberg announced the company would cap coal production at 150 million tonnes a year, a commitment abandoned by the latest climate policy. The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, which has co-ordinated resolutions submitted by Glencore shareholders, also accused the company of using an inflated emissions baseline to exaggerate its progress when it is actually only aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by three per cent by 2030. At the 2023 annual general meeting, 30 per cent of shares voted opposed the company’s climate policy. Glencore is the world’s largest thermal coal exporter, with mines in Colombia, Australia and South Africa. (Australian Financial Review [paywall], Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility)
Report says clean up costs for Teck mines triple provincial estimates: A report by Burgess Environmental estimates that the cost over 60 years of treating half the selenium contaminated water from Teck Resources Elk Valley mines in British Columbia (BC) could be more than C$6.4 billion (US$4.7 billion). The report, which Wildsight commissioned, notes that Teck’s current security to cover rehabilitation works is just C$1.9 billion (US$1.4 billion). In comments on the draft report, Teck claimed the costs were overestimated by 50-60 per cent and not based on calculations made under current British Columbian government policy. Burgess rejects the claim, noting that it repeatedly referred to the provincial government policy and that Teck had not provided data on the operating and maintenance costs of the company’s current water treatment plants. A recent US Geological Survey report found that selenium concentrations in Lake Koocanusa, which straddles the border between BC and Montana, increased by 551 per cent between 1985 and 2022. The lake is up to 120 kilometres downstream from the coal mines. Teck Resources is currently seeking Canadian government approval to sell its coal mines to Glencore. (The Narwhal, Wildsight [Pdf])
Adani stocks and bonds suffer big falls: The value of Adani Group stocks and bonds have been hit by two significant falls in the last three weeks, raising questions over the potential of a further sell-off over concerns about India’s economy and specific risks associated with the company. On March 13, the value of Adani Group companies plummeted by more than US$15 billion, regained some lost ground and then lost a further US$8.5 billion on 18 and 19 March. While there has been growing concern about the impact of potential US interest rate changes, Adani Group companies also suffered a stock price fall after Bloomberg reported that the US Department of Justice is investigating possible bribes paid by Adani representatives to obtain government contracts. (Adani Watch)
Queensland backtracks on local employment rule after Adani challenge: The Queensland government has abandoned a requirement that an Adani Mining subsidiary must employ residents from the nearby town of Clermont. Adani launched legal action challenging the Queensland government’s September 2023 decision to extend its ban on companies from having a 100 per cent fly-in, fly-out workforce if there was a “nearby regional community” to include the Carmichael mine. Queensland law originally defined a “nearby regional community” as being within 125 kilometres, but Clermont is 159 kilometres from the mine. Most of the Carmichael mine workers live in Rockhampton, Townsville and Mackay, hundreds of kilometres away from the site. Adani argued the government’s change restricted its “freedom” to choose “who it may employ and from what locations”. Earlier this month, the Queensland government backtracked, prompting the Mackay Conservation Group to accuse the company of “going back on its word” to employ people from the Clermont community. The Isaac Regional Council has launched legal action against Adani over its failure to upgrade the mine access road in line with an infrastructure agreement. (Guardian, Lock the Gate)
Indonesian ministry sets coal production target for 2024: Bambang Suswantono, the Acting Director General of Mineral and Coal, Ministry of Energy and Ministerial Resources, said the government has approved coal production targets of 922 million tonnes in 2024, declining to 917 million tonnes in 2025 and 903 million tonnes in 2026. Indonesia’s coal production has increased rapidly in recent years, underpinned by growing domestic electricity demand, strong demand in the seaborne thermal coal market and more recently by captive power plants tied to nickel smelters. In 2016, Indonesia produced 456 million tonnes of coal compared to the 775 million tonnes produced in 2023. (Reuters)
|
Report finds just one bank restricts lending for coal-based steel projects: A report by Reclaim Finance reviewing the steel sector lending policies of global banks has found the Dutch bank ING is the only one that restricts steel sector lending, albeit at a project level. Reclaim Finance estimates that the 50 global banks reviewed had provided US$429 billion to the 100 biggest steel producers between 2016 and June 2023. The report argues that 57 per cent of planned new steel plant capacity relies on the use of metallurgical coal, a potential stranded risk liability worth up to US$554 billion. Reclaim Finance wants the banks to restrict financial support for coal-based steel production and emphasise investments in fossil-free steel. (Reclaim Finance [Pdf])
US funding for electric arc furnaces and ‘hydrogen-ready’ steel plant: The US Department of Energy is considering providing up to US$500 million in funding to Cleveland-Cliffs towards the establishment of two electric arc furnaces and the replacement of the existing blast furnace with a 2.5 million tonnes per annum “hydrogen-ready” direct reduced iron (DRI) plant. The changes will end the use of coke at the company’s Middletown Works in Ohio. The company said the DRI plant would be gas-fired but can accommodate a mix of gas and hydrogen or hydrogen-only when hydrogen production facilities supported by the department come online. (Cincinnati Inquirer, US Department of Energy, Cleveland-Cliffs)
|
|
|
|
