Bright future for coal

JUNE 30, 2015: Queensland’s coal industry has a bright future, built on the back of continuing strong demand from Japan, China and India. And with this bright future comes continued prosperity and jobs for the people of the Mackay region.However, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche says green activists continue their unrelenting bid to shut down Queensland’s fossil fuel sector, also without a care for the jobs and prosperity this sector brings to resources hubs such as Mackay.He told me this week:  “My prediction of a bright future might seem like an overly buoyant appraisal in the current climate, however our coal companies are preparing for the next inevitable upturn.  Why inevitable?"Well for a start, coal currently provides around 30 percent of global primary energy needs, generates more than 40 percent of the world’s electricity, and is used in the production of 70 percent of the world’s steel.” (SOURCE: World Coal Association). See some facts on coal and more of Michael Roche’s comments here.COAL FACTS●   The global coal trade will grow by 40 per cent by 2040, with high-quality Australian coal securing 40 percent of that growth.●   China’s coal capacity will increase by 420 GW by 2040, which is 40 percent more than the entire existing US coal generation capacity. And, India will become the world’s largest coal importer by 2025, with imports trebling by 2040.●   Coal demand in South East Asia will quadruple by 2040, with coal use overtaking the USA while coal demand will also grow in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.“These forecasts undermine activists’ claims that coal risks becoming a ‘stranded asset’,” Mr Roche said.“But, it seems that our comfortable green activists spare no thought for people struggling every day with the grinding poverty that comes with lack of access to cheap, reliable electricity.”Mr Roche pointed to Greenpeace’s confected concern for the Great Barrier Reef, which shows the lengths to which they will go to spread misinformation—while trashing the reef’s reputation and tourism sector—to stop port expansions at the heart of developing new coal resources in the Galilee Basin.“Meanwhile, Queensland’s Environmental Defender’s Office (EDO) received more than $1 million last financial year to fund a number of court cases against coal and port projects near the Great Barrier Reef. A large chunk of this came from the Thomas Foundation, which has long promoted its role as the key financial backer for the ‘Fight for the Reef’ campaign.“And, EDO Queensland is involved in 10 legal challenges against the Carmichael, Alpha and Kevin’s Corner coal mines in the Galilee Basin, along with coal port expansions at Abbot Point. “While these court challenges, brought by people usually not living locally, meet with rare success, it’s all part of the now well-known agenda of a cohort of green activist groups to frustrate and delay fossil fuel projects,” Mr Roche said.“They know only too well that this will lead to the trashing of Queensland’s reputation as a good place to invest and do business.“However, ultimately it will make no difference to the carbon emissions equation.“Investors will take their money, and the jobs it creates, elsewhere, and most likely to coal deposits that don’t burn as cleanly as Queensland’s high-quality product.“It’s our hope that activists will take their organisations back to their original purpose of practical help to the environment. That’s why we are challenging the tax deductible status of these organisations, whose raison d’être is more political than environmental.”