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The exportation of coal from within the Carmichael mine, centred in Queensland, Australia, owned by one of India’s leading energy companies, Adani, can provide both short term and long term effects on the two nations. The ownership of one of our Australian based mines by a foreign power can also offer advantages or benefits for the economies however there are disadvantages for the environment in both India and Australia. In addition to this, the exportation of coal was essential in the colonisation of Australia as it was the first major source of carbon dioxide emissions. As these emissions increase, the public have started discussing resolutions to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide being released as Australia is currently ranked 16th in the domestic release of CO2.
Australia exporting coal to India is causing a large environmental, social and economic problem and major damage to the environment. The costs of this damage is not factored into coal’s export price however, adding an export tax or an import tariff could provide funds to fix the environmental damage the export of coal does. Each phase of the coal producing lifecycle, which include: mining, disposal of contaminated water/tailings, transportation, washing, combustion, and disposing of post combustion wastes, produces pollutants that can harm human health. In fact, communities in which coal mining or burning occurs have been shown to suffer significant health impacts. Among its other threats, coal poses a significant problem to the integrity of aquifers, which may be hydrologically connected to other groundwater-dependent ecosystems including farm dams, bores and rivers. Safe disposal of the water from coal mines is of high importance as waste material is often held within the surface lease of a mine, leading to a risk of contamination of human food sources. Windblown dust during transportation of coal can cause air pollution and also where coal is washed at export ports. In 2010, coal seam gas operations in Queensland were held up at two sites as a result of groundwater becoming contaminated with a potentially dangerous combination of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. Nine similar contaminations occurred after an underground coal gasification trial near Kingaroy. In addition, minerals from the disturbed earth can seep into the ground and contaminate water ways with chemical that are hazardous to human health. E.g. Acid Mine Drainage where acid water flows out of abandoned coal mines. Coal mining exposes rocks which contains Pyrite, a sulphur-bearing mineral. The mineral reacts to air and water to form sulphuric acid and when it rains the diluted acid gets into rivers and streams and can even seep into major underground water sources.
There are many short term impacts of coal mining on both humans and the environment. Breathing in coal dust causes coal workers pneumoconiosis which is more commonly known as “black lung” disease. It is nicknamed this as the coal literally coats the lungs, causing them to turn a dark black colour, rather than their normal pink colour. In 2013 alone, 25,000 coal workers in Australia died of black-lung disease. Strip mining, also known as surface mining involves the removing of earth and rocks to reach the coal underneath. For example, if a mountain or large earth mass was to be standing in the way of a coal steam within, it would be blasted and levelled. Therefore leaving a scarred landscape and the disruption of ecosystems and habitats.
Coal mining can also have significant long term threats to climate change. Deforestation and erosion are a result of a short term issue but have major long term complications. Throughout the process of clearing the grounds for a coal mine, all trees are cut down/burned, plants uprooted and the top soil is scraped away. Due to this the land can no longer be used for planting crops and soil erosion is caused. Furthermore, the loosened topsoil can be washed through drains and the sediments get into rivers, stream and waterways. Downstream, the soil causes the river channels to block which causes flooding. Furthermore, the topsoil can kill fish and plant life in streams, causing there to be a shortage of specific fish and plant life which may lead to a disturbance in the food chain. Underground mining allows coal mining allows companies to dig deeper in the ground for coal. Consequently, large amounts of earth and rock are brought up from the bowels of the earth and therefore these mining wastes can become toxic when they are exposed to air and water. For example some toxins include mercury, arsenic, fluorine and selenium. The dust can be carried by the wind to nearby towns and these dust particles can cause various health problems for humans and animals exposed to it. Coal mine methane emissions from below earth mining are often caught and used as town fuel, chemical feedstock, and vehicle/industrial fuel. However not all the emissions are captured and even though methane is less prevalent in the atmosphere as compared to carbon dioxide, it is twenty times more powerful as a green house gas. In addition, fires from underground mines release smoke into the atmosphere which contains carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide and other toxic greenhouse gases that promote climate change.
The Carmichael mine, positioned within Northern Queensland and owned by one of India’s leading companies, Adani owned by India, is one of the largest mines in Australia. With a mine owned by a foreign power, it is not only Australia and its citizens who benefit economically but other nations including India. With the build of this mine, it has opened up over 4,000 new jobs and a workforce of just under 30,000 people. This means that coal output and coal employment will continue to increase in Queensland by 21% and 13.5%, respectively. The economic benefits will multiply back through regional, state and national economies. The varied location of coal employees and business suppliers, and the flow-on impacts to Government revenue, including royalties to the Queensland Government and company and income tax receipts to the Australian government, mean that the positive economic benefits will not only accrue to mining areas but more widely across Queensland and Australia. In approving the project, the federal government has said the mine will add $2.97bn to the Queensland economy each year over 60 years. This situation is however does not benefit either India’s or Australia’s environment as there will be CO2 emissions released which disadvantages both nations.
Despite the large income to both nations, there are major risks towards Australia, Queensland specifically. Due to Adani’s mine development in Northern Queensland, implications have arisen that have heavy impacts on the environment. These include impacts on the terrestrial biodiversity of mine and rail corridor development, the potential impacts on groundwater from the mining operations, the impacts of the port development, including the dredging activities, and the greenhouse emissions associated with extra coal development and combustion. Dredging in the Great Barrier Reef causing water pollution and harm to the marine life is a direct effect of the mines work as are the CO2 emissions. Environmental activists argue that although the mine creates thousands of jobs, it will also be killing them as The Great Barrier Reef is under threat of losing its tourist attraction due to the reef undergoing further water pollution on top of back-to-back coral bleaching events. In addition to the impacts on the reef, the mining and burning of coal from it will generate an estimated 4.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its 60-year lifespan due to “fugitive” emissions from mining processes, says Adani. These emissions are over 0.5% of the remaining carbon budget to have a likely chance of limiting global temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is definite to affect the air quality of the atmosphere and have further effect on climate change.
Coal has been crucial to the Australian economy and social fabric since colonisation. Coal was initially mined on a small scale in New South Wales in the early 1800s at Newcastle (then named Coal Valley). The 1900s saw opportunities for increased industrial development and wealth generation in the form of steamships, railways and steam mills and, increasingly since World War II, international export markets. This at-the-time new technology was a key factor in the efficient transportation of other minerals and convicts imported from Europe. However, with further development of the industrial technology, there was the increase in CO2 emissions. These CO2 emissions were the start of the rise of climate change within Australia as prior to European settlement, there was no form of CO2 emissions.
The Carmichael Coal Mine is facing much opposition as it will result with many negative environmental impacts and inflicts Indigenous Land Rights in the Galilee Basin, which is not far from Townsville.
The Wangan and Jagalingou people are Traditional Owners and Native Title Applicants of a vast area of land in central-western Queensland, including the Galilee Basin. Some members have thus challenged the Adani Carmichael Coal Mine, with one member, Adrian Burragubba, slamming the state government because “[his] submissions to the court and [their] concern to protect [their] life, culture and traditions and the social, cultural and economic structures of [their] group were dismissed and overridden.” The $16.5 billion Adani coal project however guarantees employment of at least 700 Indigenous Australians in Queensland. Ms Irene Leard, advocate for the Jangga people of the Central Highlands which the mine also occupies, has a parallel view on the mine, saying that “[Adani] are helping indigenous people, some of whom have never had a job.” Therefore the mine has many conflicting interests of Indigenous Australians affected.
Adani’s Carmichael Coal Mine contributes in many ways to climate change, causing an uprise by many environmental activists, especially with the Great Barrier Reef closely off the coast of Queensland. 100 activists gathered in Cairns in July this year, calling on the government to support renewables instead of coal, saying that the Great Barrier Reef is already at a tipping point. Australia’s four largest banks are in conjunction refusing to fund the $16.5 billion coal mine. Australian cane farmer Robert Quirk explains how much the climate is affecting the amount of rain in his region since Australia, on a whole, is dry and that farmers have to “manage [this] risk.”
The Carmichael coal mine is overall causing much opposition from Indigenous Australians and environmental activists.
Regarding the exportation of coal from the Carmichael Coal Mine to India, the Australian Government is not taking any visible environmental preservation measures to prevent this from becoming a major environmental issue in relation to climate change in Australia, India and throughout the world. On the contrary, the Australian Government supports fully the Adani coal mines’ continual extraction of Australia’s natural resources and are willing to assist in the expansion of this venture, focusing on job production, rather than the environment.In addition, it has been alleged that the National Government has no comprehensive national plan to protect Australia's landscape to the year 2050, which includes the potentially irreversible impact of coal mining on climate change.The Indian Government is also backing the coal exportation from Australia, as the additional resources from the mines would decrease the cost of electricity in India, the Indian Power Minister, Piyush Goyal, saying that, “If any mine in the world supplies it (coal) in a cost-efficient manner, which helps me keep my power cost low, I will welcome it.” However, India is very committed to its pledge to generate 40 per cent of the nation's electricity from non-fossil sources by 2030 and plans to produce 75,000 megawatts of renewables on stream by 2030. Though differing slightly in views regarding climate change, both the Australian and Indian Governments are in agreement regarding the exportation of coal from Carmichael Coal Mine to India that the practice that should, at least in the short term, continue and even expand.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as North Queensland Conservation Council and the Australian Conservation Foundation, are opposing the exportation of coal from Australia to India and are taking measures to stop the practice and preserve the environment. Recently, the Australian Conservation Foundation took legal action by taking the Adani case to the Federal Court to try and force the minister to consider climate change impacts from emissions that would be produced when the coal was burnt overseas for electricity, however this attempt was not successful.Also, the North Queensland Conservation Council held a protest regarding the same issue, demanding that the coal extraction be stopped and funding be put instead into solar energy, thus conflicting with the Governments’ opinion.
Australia produces just under 1,500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide daily. Amongst the world, it is ranked 16th in the releases of domestic CO2 emissions alone and our per capita is one of the highest in the world. The Environment Department’s quarterly results express; between the years 1990 and 2016, emissions from electricity have led to Australia discarding more than 59.5 mega-tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. The report card also states that emissions from the direct combustion of fuels, primarily mining and manufacturing sectors, caused the increase of emissions by almost 4%. The Carmichael Coal Mine is the largest coal mine in Australia, and is among the biggest in the world. If accomplished, Australia’s estimated increase in coal and gas exports could cause our carbon foot print to increase by more than double, over the upcoming decades. The completion of the coal mine validated the means to mine all the coal in the Galilee Basin. If the extraction and burning of the coal was to take place, the world would be one-third of the way closer to the 2 degrees Celsius global warming limit.
Banning new coal mines can be a very perceptive approach. Although an obscene tactic, without the competition of new coal mines in the mining industry, older coal mines aren’t given incentives to cut back on coal, just for the newer coal mines to produce more.
It has been highly falsified that Australia is too small of a country to make a difference world-wide. Although it is true that if Australia was to tax its coal, other coal exports would increase in other countries, it is also true that Australia is the second largest coal exporter in the world, exporting more than 60 million tonnes of coal each year. If Australia was the only country taxing its coal, in the short term this would be very effective, but as stated before in the long-run, increases in coal exports from other countries would occur. Another approach to the situation of coal exports in Australia would be to raise the taxes on coal in a way where it would not distinguish between the source of the coal and its proposed carbon intensity. This would cause the global price of coal to rise, resulting in energy-users to switch to lower-carbon emission alternatives. This in turn would lower CO2 emissions. Imposing the tax to coal importers, not only benefits the suppliers economically, but as a whole results in the overall lowering of carbon dioxide emissions into the earth.
In collaboration with Claire Curtis, Georgia Jaworski and Rayan Bakker
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