In some regions, King Coal remains firmly on his throne.
The Australian mining company Resourcehouse on Saturday announced a
US$60bn (Dh220bn) deal to sell coal to China, calling it Australia's "biggest-ever export contract".
Indeed, Australia's previous "biggest" trade deal, unveiled with considerable government fanfare last August, was some 31 per cent smaller: an
A$50bn (Dh151bn) long-term agreement to export liquefied natural gas to China.
The relative size of the two deals highlights the extent to which China, which is set to overtake the US to become the world's biggest energy consumer, will remain dependent on the planet's highest-carbon fuel for electricity generation as its population and economy continue to expand. Once a coal exporter, it will continue to burn more of the fuel that it increasingly imports from regional neighbours such as Indonesia and Australia, despite huge
government investments in renewable energy development and in building nuclear and gas-fired power stations.
Phil McNamara, the executive director of Resourcehouse, said development of the "once-in-a-century" mining project would begin later this year.
Clive Palmer, the chairman of Resourcehouse and Australia's fifth richest man, said the project would involve developing "a new world-class coal region" in the northeastern Australian state. He plans an initial public offering of Resourcehouse shares on the
Hong Kong stock exchange next month to raise up to US$3 billion for coal, iron ore and oil and gas projects.
Australia is already China's biggest coal supplier. Last year, it exported 43.9 million tonnes of coal to the Asia-Pacific country, accounting for 35 per cent of Chinese imports.
Australia will also
export huge amounts of gas to China in coming years, as the most populous Asian country moves from being self-sufficient in gas to becoming a major importer.
What is unknown is how much, if any, of the new power generation capacity that China will build on the strength of its long-term fuel import contracts will be equipped to capture emissions, and how much carbon dioxide will actually be captured and permanently stored.
It is those statistics, not the raw fuel consumption data, that will truly determine China's commitment to slowing global warming.
Pic courtesy of Reuters
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