URGENT: Galilee Basin Mines impact on water : Statutory right to groundwater for mines proposed to commence!

Picture above from here 

URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE GALILEE BASIN ALLIANCE

Statutory right to groundwater for mines proposed to commence!

1 October 2015

What is proposed?

The loss of your public rights of appeal on underground water licences for mining companies. This amendment affects a significant amount of our underground water.

The proposed Alpha and Kevin’s Corner Coal Mines alone would involve taking an estimated 176GL, or 70,400 Olympic swimming pools worth of underground water over 30 years.

Currently mining companies have to apply to get a water licence, the application is publicly notified and then submitters (for example graziers or community groups concerned about water) have the right to appeal the decision on the water licence to the Land Court.[1]

These community rights would be lost if the proposed amendments are commenced. Our current Ministers want this removal of rights to go ahead!

We support the positive changes WROLAA introduces – including obligatory make good agreements (although with some improvements needed), cumulative impact management, adequate monitoring and reporting obligations – but let’s not lose community appeal rights with respect to water licences.

Why is this bad?

• We need full public scrutiny of the impacts of major mines on groundwater. Removing water licence requirements seriously undermines that scrutiny. The decisions made by the Land Court in cases like Alpha Coal [2] and other Galilee Basin mines assume there will be later public scrutiny of an application for a water licence and the potentially major impacts on groundwater. And it’s simply unfair to change the rules when projects are part way through assessment and when citizens have made decisions as to whether to participate based on an existing array of rights.
• Even for development applications for shopping centres, our legal system provides the community with submission and appeal rights to the Planning and Environment Court for independent merit assessment. Impacts to our precious groundwater by large scale mining activities deserve the same scrutiny against community concerns.
• It’s contrary to Labour statements, as quote above. This State Government has further committed to open, accountable, transparent governance. This move is contrary to those commitments; silencing those concerned with impacts to groundwater in Queensland.

TAKE ACTION: 

Help save our groundwater resources!

1. Spread the word – share this news and why it is bad with your networks.

2. Speak to your local parliamentarian about this issue and tell them what you think.

3. Write to Minister Lynham and Minister Miles and tell them your concerns, even a short email will do:

Hon Dr Anthony Lynham Minister for State Development and Minister for Natural Resources and Mines PO Box 15216, CITY EAST QLD 4002 statedevelopment@ministerial.qld.gov.au

Hon Dr Steven Miles Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef GPO Box 2454, BRISBANE QLD 4001 environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au

4. Keep an eye on EDO Qld Facebook, Twitter or website for updates.

Whose idea was this?

By way of background, in late 2014 the LNP government introduced the Water Reform and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 (Qld) (WROLAA) which proposed to drop public rights of appeal on water licences and instead provide the mining industry with a statutory right to take associated underground water (water that is necessary to remove for the extraction of the actual resource)[3].  Prior to being elected ALP opposed this idea, committing to:

“Repeal the Newman Government’s water laws which will have a detrimental effect on the Great Barrier Reef catchment systems and allow for over allocation of Queensland’s precious water resources.”[4]

And further stating:

“The Water Reform and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 takes the errors of the Murray-Darling Basin and seeks to repeat them by facilitating the over-allocation of water for large ‘coordinated projects’ and mines. This legislation passed while 75 per cent of Queensland was drought declared and landholders are struggling to find water. 

The Opposition also does not support make good arrangements being dependent on a resource company coming to the conclusion that they have impacted on a landholders’ water bore. If water is extracted on an unsustainable basis from the Great Artesian Basin it will be lost forever.

Only a Labor Government will ensure the sustainable management of our State’s water resources based on the principles of ecologically sustainable development. By repealing this legislation a Labor Government will restore the fundamental legal right to object and say no to a nearby mining development.”^[5]

Apparently their position has changed. 

We can’t allow this to go ahead.

[1] Water Act, s206(4)(i) and Water Regulation, Sch 2, allows a holder of a mineral development licence or mining lease (or listed entity) to apply for a water licence. Water Act, s208 provides for public notice of water licence applications (limited exceptions to public notification in s209).  For people who have made a properly made submission there are rights of internal review (s862(1)(a)) and appeal to the Land Court (s877(1)(b)).

[2] Hancock Coal Pty Ltd v Kelly & Ors and Department of Environment and Heritage Protection(No. 4) [2014] QLC 12.

[3] WROLAA s11 proposes to insert Chapter 12A Part 1 in the Mineral Resources Act which includes s334ZP ‘Entitlement to use underground water’ and s334ZR associated authorisation. WROLAA s10 proposes to delete s235(3) of the Mineral Resources Act which states there is no entitlement to water.

[4] Queensland Labor, Saving the Great Barrier Reef: Labor’s plan to protect a natural wonder, January 2015.

[5] Letter Tim Mulherin former Labor MP to Kate Dennehy, Lock the Gate, 22 January 2015.

http://www.edoqld.org.au/news/urgent-statutory-right-to-groundwater-for-mines-proposed-to-commence/

Coal versus renewables in India ... and the renewables are destined to win

Picture below is from here

Adani hits another hurdle, taking Glencore to court         

by Mark Ludlow

Indian energy giant Adani's battle to build the $16.5 billion Carmichael mine in Central Queensland has struck another hurdle with a protracted legal battle with resources company Glencore over the operation of Abbot Point coal terminal.
With Adani struggling to gain finance for the mega-mine in the Galilee Basin and still awaiting environmental and mining approvals for the project, the legal battle with Glencore is now set to proceed to trial early next year.
Adani is moving to kick Glencore out as operator of Abbot Point coal terminal – which it plans to use for its export hub for its mega-mine – and is also suing them for loss and damages over an alleged breach of contract. The size of the losses is not outlined in the legal documents obtained from the Supreme Court.
Adani would not comment on the court case, but the latest legal skirmish will continue to raise doubts about whether its controversial Carmichael mine – which has become a flashpoint for anti-fossil fuel and environmental activists – will ever get off the ground.

Adani purchased Abbot Point coal terminal  from the former Bligh Labor government in 2011 for $1.83 billion. It was crucial to its plans for a vertically-integrated mine, rail and port project to export coal to its power stations in India.
A subsidiary of Xstrata, known as Abbot Point Bulkcoal, had a 10-year contract to operate and maintain the terminal, which is near Bowen, between 2000 and 2010. This was extended to 2015 before Adani bought the terminal.
The first terminal, known as T1, is being used to export coal from across the Bowen Basin. It has a capacity of 50 million tonnes a year and is used by BMA, QCoal and Glencore's two mines at Collinsville and Newlands. It shifted 28.7 million tonnes last financial year.

Three terminals approved

Adani also has approval for a second terminal, known as T0, to be used for its exclusive use for its project in the Galilee Basin, and has a capacity of 70 million tonnes. Another Galilee Basin proponent, GVK/Hancock Coal has approval for a third terminal at Abbot Point.

But things soured after the 2013 takeover of Xstrata by global resources giant Glencore. Glencore, which has coal, copper, nickel and zinc mines in Queensland and NSW, asked to store 3 million tonnes of coal at Abbot Point coal terminal.
Adani, which is racing against the clock to build its Carmichael mine to deliver coal to its power stations by 2017, claims the takeover of the subsidiary which operates Abbot Point was a breach of the original contract.
In May 2013, lawyers for Adani sent a notice to Abbot Point Bulkcoal saying they failed to get written approval for the transfer of ownership to Glencore. In June of that year, a show-cause notice was issued and further legal missives were sent in early 2014.

But in October 2014, Glencore asked for a five-year extension to the port contract which was refused by Adani saying they had breached the original contract.
In late 2014, Adani engaged a health and safety expert to audit Abbot Point Bulkcoal which found a string of alleged deficiencies. A second audit report in 2015 found the original deficiencies "which posed a significant risk to safety or health of people" at Abbot Point coal terminal.
A fourth notice to remedy the breaches was sent to Glencore in May this year. It outlined nine major non-compliance issues in relation to the original audit and 25 minor non-compliances.
Glencore fired back saying the fourth notice to remedy included errors and was the "latest example of concerning behaviour by Adani".

​Adani continued its bid to kick Glencore off the terminal, saying it had failed to keep the terminal in good condition.
But in June Supreme Court Justice James Douglas said Glencore was allowed to continue to operate the terminal until the court case was resolved.
Adani's Carmichael mine was further delayed last month when the federal court set aside environmental approvals for the project. Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt was given another six to eight weeks to reassess the impact of the mine on two threatened species - the Yakka skink and the ornamental snake.
The court action by little-known environmental group, the Mackay Conservation Group,  led to the former Abbott government introducing legislation to limit legal challenges against big resources projects.
There has been growing speculation the changes to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act would be dumped by the new Turnbull government, but there has so far been no decision.
Adani Australia chief executive Jeyakumar Janakaraj said the company was committed to the Carmichael project despite the delays.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/news/politics/adani-hits-another-hurdle-taking-glencore-to-court-20150923-gjszx9?stb=twt#ixzz3meKEAeFu

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Picture below is from here

Solar shines as coal economics wane in India

By Tim Buckley on 18 September 2015 

The Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) published its India Electricity Sector Transformationreport in August 2015. A month later, a number of new data points have emerged to suggest that the sector continues to gain momentum towards a more diversified, domestic oriented electricity grid better oriented towards supporting sustainable growth. The deflationary nature of renewables continues to be firmed up by an influx of new, global capital. Key developments into September 2015 include:

• Coal India Ltd has reported fiscal year-to-August coal production is up 9.4% year on year, triple electricity demand growth of only 3.1% year on year.
• With domestic coal production running at double electricity demand growth, inevitably coal imports have proven the swing factor, with reports showing imports have declined 5% year on year in July-August 2015.
• But the coal-fired power sector remains in serious financial distress, and operating rates have dropped to a new low of 58.4% in July 2015.
• In contrast, the Indian solar sector is seeing record interest, with the latest 500MW tender in Andhra Pradesh in September 2015 being oversubscribed tenfold. With many new global entrants bidding a collective US$5bn, the suggestion is the tariff may set a new record low below Rs5/kWh (with zero indexation for 25 years).
• The onshore and offshore wind, hydro and energy efficiency sectors are all showing positive momentum, assisting in the diversification of the Indian grid and building domestic energy security.

Momentum remains positive for all but imported thermal coal demand.
Indian Coal Production
Coal India Ltd production is up 9.4% year to-date year-on-year in April-August 2015, and dispatches are up 8.3% yoy YTD in the same period, suggesting rail logistics blockages are gradually being overcome. This builds on the record 6.9% growth in production in the year to March 2015, a step-change up from the 1.5% pa growth evident in the prior five years.
Private Sector Production and Coal Block Auctions
The government is preparing the fourth round of coal block auctions to private companies. The 45 operational coal blocks that have so far allotted to the private sector will start to really ramp up production into 2016. Another 160 mines are listed to be auctioned, with a potential 500Mtpa of production from mines currently generating an estimated 60Mtpa.
Indian Coal Imports down 5% yoy Jul-Aug’2015
Total coal imports into India were down 5.1% year-on-year in July-August 2015. August 2015 imports were 18.6Mt, down 4% month-on-month but up 2% year-on-year. July 2015 total coal imports were down 11% year-on-year (yoy). This looks like a historic turning point after the annual 20-30% yoy growth in coal imports over the prior six years, again hinting that a peak in coal imports has been reached in mid-2015.
Power Deficits Declining – Affordability and Discom Losses Now Key
The national peak power deficit in July 2015 was 2.6%, against 3.5% in the same month last year. The annual peak deficit for 2015-16 is expected to be only 2.1-2.5%, a huge drop from the 4.5% for 2013-14 and the near 10% deficits reported in the preceding years. The build out of interstate transmission capacity is a key part of the medium term solution.
“Discom (state electricity distribution companies) resolution is on the cards and we are very confident to have been able to create a sustainable robust framework in consultation with states,” said Energy Minister Piyush Goyal. This remains a key roadblock, and failure to resolve systemic Discom losses will stymie growth.
Stranded Assets – Excess coal fired capacity lowers utilisation Rate
In July 2015, the national average thermal power plant load factor (PLF) declined to 58.4% – the lowest in three years. This suggests there has been a significant coal-fired power plant overbuild. With electricity demand growth not as strong as expected, coal-fired power plants are at risk of being stranded from both an inability to access cheap domestic coal and from weaker than expected demand. Power at any cost is not a viable solution – affordability is a second key constraint.
This development is following the Chinese pattern where coal-fired power plants are rapidly being put at risk of becoming stranded assets, with utilisation rates in China year to date 2015 reported at a record low of only 49% as the nationwide average.
Electricity Consumption Growth of 3.1% yoy
Indian industrial production grew 4.2% in July from a year earlier, with April-August 2015 electricity production growth running at only 3.1%. With electricity system growth running at only half the reported GDP growth of 7% yoy, the need for dramatic new generation capacity additions is diminished.
Progress in Ramping Up Solar Rollout
Mercom Capital monitors the Indian solar market, and in a market update published August 2015 put Indian solar at 4,349 MW of operational PV and 209 MW of CSP, for a total of over 4.5 GW. An additional pipeline of over 7GW is underway, a massive acceleration on the 1GW pa of solar installs seen in the last two years.
Bridge to India reports tenders for project development and EPC issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) add up to 3.9GW, and several new tenders are expected. SECI is already developing a 750MW project in Madhya Pradesh. Projects under development, recently concluded allocations and ongoing allocations at the state level add up to 7GW. The new allocations from this are spread across the states of Punjab (500 MW), Haryana (150 MW), Bihar (150 MW), Tamil Nadu (1,240 MW), Telangana (2,000 MW), Madhya Pradesh (300 MW), Andhra Pradesh (500MW) and Jharkhand (2,000 MW).
Bridge to India reports a 500MW tender in Andhra Pradesh in September 2015 received bids totalling 5.5GW, a tenfold oversubscription. Tender results are to be announced October 2015, with suggestions that tariffs below Rs5/kWh have been submitted. Prominent new entrants into the Indian solar sector with this tender included SoftBank, Trina Solar, Enel, Energon, Solar Arise, Suzlon and Greenko. The depth of global corporate interest is growing with each month.
September 2015 saw another major new solar step forward, with the Adani Group and Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) sending proposals to the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency to set up solar power capacity of a combined 2 GW. This is JSPL’s first major entry into the Indian solar sector, and for Adani, this represents the latest of seven major solar initiatives in India announced just in 2015 to-date, totalling new capex of US$16bn. If these proposals progress, it would represent a manyfold expansion of solar relative to Jharkhand’s existing total of only 16MW of solar installed.
Encouraging Microgrids 
“We are creating a framework that whenever the grid reaches there, the off grid guy can supply that power like net metering into the grid, so we are creating that framework to encourage people to go off grid,” said Mr. Goyal. Incentivising offgrid, decentralised renewable solutions is an effective, lowest cost solution to energy poverty. Despite certain coal industry claims, expensive imported coal isn’t seen as a solution.
Encouraging Energy Efficiency
In September 2015 the Energy Minister also said that government plans to bring down the cost of each LED bulb to Rs.44 from the current level of Rs.74 through competitive bidding. This further builds on an 80-90% cost reduction sourcing program for LED already achieved over the last year. Goyal has quantified the electricity savings from an LED phase in program at 100TWh or well over US$2bn annually.
Hydro Projects Restarted
Energy Minister Goyal also said: “If you go back in history for the last five years, the entire hydel industry has come to a standstill in India. We’re going to revive it. People have lost interest about investing in hydro. I want to reignite that interest.” 46GW of hydroelectricity is strategically significant as it boosts economic expansion and employment in India’s northeast, Goyal added. It also brings strength to the electricity generation sector, diversifying the overreliance on coal while balancing renewable energy production. The first target is to resolve the years-long delay in the US$1.4bn, 1.2GW Teesta-III project in northeastern Sikkim state that is 90% complete. Goyal said his next objective is to speed up NHPC’s 2GW Subansiri hydroelectricity project spanning across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states.
Onshore Wind
While much of the press focus in India is currently on solar, India already operates the fourth largest global wind farm fleet of 24GW, behind only China, America and Germany. Goyal has a stated target to lift this to 60GW by 2021/22, and post the equity recapitalisation of Suzlon Energy in May 2015, the wind sector is once again looking re-energised.
In September 2015 the China Light and Power Group of Hong Kong (CLP India) announced a new Rs6bn (US$90m) 9.15% pa, 3-5 year tenor green bond issue to assist financing of its committed new wind projects of over 1,000 MW across six states. CLP India already has the largest wind fleet in India, with commissioned wind energy capacity of 724 MW.
Repowering Onshore Wind
In order to overcome site availability constraints, Energy Minister Goyal is looking at repowering existing wind farms, replacing the old 0.2-0.3MW turbines with modern turbines of 2-3MW capacity each – giving a tenfold lift in output from existing wind farms.
Offshore Wind Framework
In September 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government adopted a new policy for India’s offshore wind industry. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is now authorised to start allocating blocks offshore for wind developments. This represents another step forward in India’s pursuit of a targeted 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, although IEEFA expects offshore wind to only make a material contribution next decade.
Reverse tender for stranded gas fired capacity
In September 2015 the Indian Government announced its second reverse tender auction for subsidised gas supply to stranded gas-fired power generation capacity for the six months to March 2016 at a maximum electricity price of Rs4.70/kWh. The first auction for the June-to-Sept’2015 period successfully revived 10,270MW of previously stranded gas capacity to provide gas-fired electricity generation for 30% of time, sufficient to provide peak load management to help grid stability at a minimal incremental system cost.
The entry of a wide range of global energy firms into the Indian renewables sector is rapidly mobilising financial capital and providing substance to the grand transformation vision announced late in 2014. While the electricity sector challenges remain extreme, Energy Minister Goyal continues to achieve wins on a range of new initiatives. The 5% yoy decline in coal imports in July-August 2015 hits at a key turning point. Two months isn’t a trend, but momentum is building.
Tim Buckley, Director Energy Finance Studies, Australasia at IEEFA.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/solar-shines-as-coal-economics-wane-in-india-27698

Information regarding the Galilee Basin is collected from various media outlets and compiled to this new email address, galileebasinalliance@gmail.com.

Anyone can comment or send news and they will be broadcasted to this local email list.

If you don’t want to receive these emails, send this message ‘Please erase my email address from your contact list’ to galileebasinalliance@gmail.com

If you would like for other people to be included, send this message  ‘Please add this email address to your contact list’ to galileebasinalliance@gmail.com

The Galilee Basin Alliance is an informal network of landholders and community members in Western Central Queensland who are concerned about the expansion of mining in our region. For more information contact Denice on 4651 1696, Paola on 4985 3474 or reply to this email.

Unethical mining corporations? Take a look at FreeportMcMorRan and Barrick Gold.

Australian miners overseas are no angels.

Think polluted watercourses, damaged food lands.

Think the Australia-Timor Leste martime boundary. 

Australian miner wants to mine close to a world heritage site.

No mining in Lower Zambezi National Park.

However, North America seems to provide a particularly nasty brood of miners.  Think Freeport McMoRan in West Papua/Irian Jaya.  And think this doozie of Barrick Gold's irresponsibility on the other side of the border in Porgera, Papua New Guinea.  Clearly, Barrick has ways and means of achieving its published goals of disciplined, profitable production.

Huffington Post has done us a great service.  It has compiled a list of thirteen corporations who are the most unethical in the whole wide world. And you will find a surprise - well, no surprise actually - in who came in No.1 --- and it wasn't a mining corporation!

Clearly, the governments on our planet

are doing a poor job of keeping corporations honest and ethical.

Just send these major corporations abroad

and you will lose friends and fail to influence the locals -

but then my guess is that there are handouts

to governments and other international influencers, aren't there?

Canadian mining companies the worst...

Senator Scott Ludlam questions operations of Australian mining companies overseas

Beware of Australian mining corporations doing international business

Update - 3 July 2015

Still awaiting the High Court's decision. 

http://savethelowerzambezi.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/still-waiting-zambezi-resources-in.html?view=magazine 

Posted by No Mining in Lower Zambezi National Park on Thursday, 2 July 2015

My memories of the mighty Zambezi are simple.  

In 1985, following the UN Women's Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, 

I took a few days to visit Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.  

During my stay, I walked across the bridge built by Cecil Rhodes 

across the Zambezi  

between what is, these days, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  

In Zambia, I found a quiet corner of the Zambezi. 

I sat down and put my feet in its waters

 and transported myself back in time 

to schoolgirl social studies lessons about the Zambezi.

This morning I read of this - mining in a national park, a national park of world significance.  As I read this, I am mindful of what the Liberal and National Parties are doing in relation to intrusive activities in national parks in Australia.  Full scale mining is not yet allowed.  However, the thin edge of the wedge has begun with the Victorian government allowing prospecting in Victorian national parks. 

Australia has a proud record with regard to national parks.  Our history closely follows on the heels of the first national parks in the USA. But, it seems, none of this matters a fig to political parties in Australia - except to some minor players such as The Greens.  There is a continual battle to keep uranium mining out of the much-prized Kakadu.  The Mirrar people have fought valiantly to keep uranium mining at bay and the fight continues to this day.

There is the amazing story of Djok Senior Traditional Owner Jeffrey Lee who could have enriched himself with his land entitlement but who gave the land to be incorporated into Kakadu to keep it safe from uranium mining. 

It appears that the fight to keep the national parks of Australia out of the clutches of miners will never be over.

All this needs to be borne in mind - particularly when Australian mining companies are doing business internationally.  Let me say it bluntly, governments need to be very wary - if not downright hostile - to Australian companies seeking to mine in their nations.  Their track record is poor - even from our biggest and brightest, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

These major corporations cannot be trusted from A to B - let alone right through to Z.  And these are Australia's major mining corporations.  They attract significant talent and investment to their businesses.  If they prove careless and untrustworthy, how much more should lesser corporations be regarded?  How much red carpet should be rolled out for them? 

When mining corporations have denuded the natural heritage of a nation following the dreams of dollars of struggling economies, are the clean-ups and the litigation and the court cases really worth it?

Further reading
Ok Tedi environmental disaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bougainville Copper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Denying Accountability? Australia’s International Mining Shame by Jane Andrew
Oxfam - Mining
Mining: when will the scandals stop?
El Salvador suffers Australia's maleficent miners

Postscript

Lest people are tempted to accuse the writer of this post of being anti-mining. I am not.  I am currently living in my third Australian mining town.  I love each of these three towns dearly and they have been a formative part of my life.  

However, I have lived around mining companies long enough to understand their secrecy; to understand the cabal of support they attract from governments, civic and business leaders.  I know that if there is a choice between corporate interests and community interests, the corporate interest will be paramount.  

I believe in mining.  It has been part of the human condition for millenia.  Mining, in my view, is a part of the human condition and enterprise.

I believe that communities must be watchful in their own interest in regard to mining activities in their areas - particularly environmentally with regard to water and pollution of soil, air, and water.  

I believe that communities need to safeguard their health and not take the company word as the be all and end all of the story.  

I believe that communities have to demand more from their governments so that political leaders are not resorting to closed door deals, nods and winks with mining corporations.  

I believe that, in the end, human communities are more important than governments and corporations.  Their well-being must prevail.

Bimblebox conversations on Clive Palmer's coal mines - the shame of greed and the threatening of a created and creative world

To read more about Bimblebox read through the links here.

Denis Wilson
to Paola, Maria, Maureen, Russell, me

This has had a wide coverage, but is Queensland listening?

I doubt it, because the Feds have just enacted their policy of no

double-testing of Endangered Species.

Referring all approvals back to the States. So, we know the Reef is

 in serious trouble.  Same applies to Bimblebox, except that the

economists are saying it is not worth the trouble to dig it up, lay train

tracks across Qld, etc. But with Palmer in Parliament and Gina not

needing to be in it, who knows what deals are going to be done?

Denis

Coal mines could be 'mothballed'

AAP (Alan Kohler)

Australian coal mines are at risk of becoming "mothballed or abandoned

as China's commodity demands change, new research shows.

A study by Oxford University looked at how coal demand from China, which

accounts for half the world's coal consumption, due to environmental factors

could lead to "stranded assets" in Australia.

Stranded assets have suffered from unanticipated devaluations.

The study, released on Monday from Oxford University's stranded assets

program, outlines the environmentally-driven shifts already underway in

China.

The shifts include a desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the

exposure to the volatile commodity market and improving energy efficiency.

Researchers found these factors and others could force mine owners to

re-evaluate the viability of developed coal projects and those in the pipeline.

"Demand below expectations, and lower coal prices as a result, would increase

the risk that coal mines, reserves and coal-related infrastructure could become

 mothballed or abandoned," the report states.

"Prices could also drop to the point where it is in the interests of miners to 

cease production, resulting in stranded mines and dependent infrastructure such

as railways."

Apart from the financial impacts on mine operators and magnates, state

governments would also be hurt.

The study highlighted the significant impact posed to Queensland,

where mega-mines are planned for the Galilee Basin.

State governments can reduce the risk of their investments ending up as

stranded assets by limiting the use of taxpayer dollars on coal-related

infrastructure, such as ports and railways.

Stranded assets program director and the study's co-author Ben Caldecott

said these developments were not factored into positions most coal owners

and operators were taking.

"Policy makers need to wake up to these risks as well," he said in a statement.

Bimblebox Nature Refuge	23:50 (8 hours ago)		Clip
to Denis, Maria, Maureen, Russell, me

Denis, hold on tight!

Friday is our D DAY for Bimblebox.

Hunt's deadline to send through the airways more bad news.

Abbot is hoping that the financiers ignore the price of coal by giving

them the govt green light...

a bit like me hoping that by writing a submission or two the govt

won't approve the mine.

Paola

Russell Constable	00:47 (7 hours ago)		Clip
to Bimblebox, Denis, Maria, Maureen, me

Paola what is being done to you guys is just criminal. I pray for good news

for you but hold little hope unfortunately

cheers Russ

Russell Constable

Queensland Conservation "Champion of Conservation 2013"

and proud member of

www.cassowarycoastalliance.com

Bimblebox Nature Refuge	01:09 (6 hours ago)		Clip
to Russell, Denis, Maria, Maureen, me

Thanks Russell

they will need to drag us across the country kicking and screaming and

that's the govt real dilemma! Not the one to mine or not to mine a NR

but how to get  rid of us without fuss  as we have been raising the

awareness to the wider public to the fact that conservation areas can

be mined, a notion most are unaware of. I believe people would expect

that tax payers money directed to conservation wouldn't be redirected

to coal profits, that lines in the sand are there for all to see even

if the govt is trying to obliterate them with anti environment

legislation.

Not over yet, by a long chalk!
Paola

Maureen Cooper <Brigadoon.99@bigpond.com>	07:18 (34 minutes ago)		Clip
to Bimblebox, Russell, Denis, Maria, me

The Age and even our Border Mail have both been giving the

Abbot Government heaps and the Age had the Oxford story and I did

wonder at the tunnel vision of our Government and all the State

Premiers who are rubbing their greedy little hands together over

the prospect of unlimited development of fossil fuels.  Tony is getting

 a F for failure from most members of the public.  However there was an

 article that said that Hockey was just waiting for Tony to stuff up so badly

 that they threw him out and Jo would step forward to replace him.  

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

On a brighter note, there is an elderly lady here who is so keen to help

Bimblebox that she is going to organise an afternoon tea for which the

invitees will have to pay to participate and she wants my books and the

critters there and for me to do a talk.  I will get brave and do it for you, Paola.
Every dollar we get will be helpful for a court battle.  We will do it after

Christmas.  The money I banked yesterday was for Critters and books sold

at the Christmas Markets.

Bimblebox Nature Refuge	07:39 (14 minutes ago)		Clip
to Maureen, Russell, Denis, Maria, me

Thanks Maureen, you are a trooper!

P