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Coal’s role in modern infrastructure

Economic development involves the increased use of highly energy intensive materials, such as steel, cement, glass and aluminium. These materials are necessary for the construction and development of transport, energy, housing and water management infrastructure. Coal is the most widely used source of energy in energy-intensive industries and is important in the development of modern infrastructure in growing economies. Coal is also an important component of global steel production which is critical in the construction of modern infrastructure such as transport, residential housing and commercial buildings.

Download the full Coal Matters: Coal and Modern Infrastructure fact sheet.

May 8, 2013 | Categories: Coal News, Sustainable Development

Coal – good for Australia; good for the world

Milton Catelin, Chief Executive, WCA

Our industry has to remind everyone about the value of coal for socio-economic development, especially when irresponsible and ignorant calls are being made to phase out coal or stop its export.

This is all the more important when Greenpeace has mounted a campaign to perpetrate physical attacks on facilities such as ships carrying coal to energy starved Asia.

In Australia, a new report from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology shows that the coal industry brings in AU$43 billion every year. This represents 3.1% of gross value added in Australia in the year 2011-2012. In terms of employment, the coal industry in Australia generates around 180,000 jobs – most with above national average salaries.

When campaigning for an end to the coal industry in Australia, Greenpeace has no plan for 180,000 people whose jobs depend on coal. It is doubtful they have done any thinking on the social and economic impact of their reckless attacks, either inside Australia or in the countries that import Australian coal.

In Asia where most Australian coal exports are destined, coal plays a strong role in social and economic development. In China, coal has been the major energy source fuelling the industrial development which raised over 660 million people out of poverty over the past three decades. It has fuelled an unprecedented poverty alleviation campaign. Indeed without poverty reductions in China – 80% fuelled by coal – global poverty has actually increased over the past 30 years! It is wrong that Greenpeace should dictate that other developing countries should not access the fuel that has driven down poverty in China and driven the prosperity of the Western world.

Coal is one of the most valuable industries Australia has and certainly the industry of most direct social and economic value to the developing world.

April 24, 2013 | Categories: Coal News, Energy access

WCA Welcomes Latest Report from IEA’s Coal Industry Advisory Board

LONDON – The international coal industry has welcomed the publication of an important new report by the IEA’s Coal Industry Advisory Board (CIAB) calling it an important step on the pathway to near-zero emissions coal.

Speaking about the release of the report, 21^st Century Coal – Advanced Technology and Global Energy Solution, Milton Catelin, Chief Executive of the World Coal Association (WCA) said: “This report is an important piece of advice to the International Energy Agency and global policymakers on the role of coal in a carbon-constrained world. It demonstrates a clear technological pathway to providing cleaner energy access to the 1.3 billion people who lack it. We call on the IEA and other policymakers to heed the findings and latest recommendations of the CIAB’s report.”

The key message of the report focuses on improving efficiencies for advanced coal-fired power generation as a first step to reducing CO₂emissions. It states: “An estimated 59 GT of reduced CO₂ emissions from coal power could have been achieved, had new coal units over the past 50 years used the highest efficiency technology available when built”.

The report also highlights the transformational potential of CCUS (Carbon Capture Use and Storage) for achieving near-zero emissions from coal-fired power generation, including using EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) to strengthen the business case for CCS.

In its conclusion, the CIAB report states that: “Coal will remain the cornerstone fuel in the global energy economy for decades to come. In 2013, the IEA should leverage its stature and undertake a special initiative to re-educate OECD leaders on this and other aspects of world energy. Such an initiative would be highly constructive by contributing to a greater understanding of crucial energy issues on the part of policymakers and the public they serve. In turn, such understanding would enhance prospects for consensus between developed and developing world leaders on balanced policy measures to achieve the dual benefits to human civilisation resulting from increased energy access and advanced emissions technology.”

Milton Catelin said: “Energy access and climate change should be treated as integrated priorities. We urge governments, the international community and the IEA to recognise that the increasing demand for coal means its central role in the global energy system cannot be ignored. The IEA has a responsibility to educate the global community that coal and clean coal technologies are here to stay and will be an essential part of the global climate solution.”

“We need to get serious about deploying carbon capture and storage – for gas as well as coal. But we can take much more effective, affordable and immediate action by supporting the deployment of high-efficiency, low-emission coal-fired power plants. The IEA’s own research has shown that deploying modern, highly efficient coal plants can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 30% from coal-fired power generation and it can do this at a much lower cost than renewable energies. That means there are huge economic and climate benefits from building more efficient coal-fired power stations.”

Notes

The World Coal Association was founded in 1985 and has been working on behalf of the global coal industry for 28 years. WCA’s Members comprise the world’s major international coal producers and stakeholders. Membership is open to companies and not-for-profit organisations from anywhere in the world. The WCA provides a voice for coal in international environment and energy forums, presenting the case for coal to key stakeholders worldwide.

The Coal Industry Advisory Board (CIAB) is a group of high level executives from coal-related industrial enterprises, established by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in July 1979 to provide advice to the IEA on a wide range of issues relating to coal.

CIAB Members are drawn from 20 countries accounting for over 85% of world coal production. Members also represent major electricity producers, together with other coal consuming industries and coal related organisations. The CIAB supports the IEA in delivering its responses on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development, as well as advising on issues for coal relevant to world energy security. To download a free copy of the report, click here.

March 21, 2013 | Categories: CCS, Climate change, Coal News

Orica Joins the World Coal Association

LONDON – The World Coal Association’s (WCA) membership has increased today with the announcement that Orica, the largest provider of commercial explosives and blasting systems to the mining industry, has joined the association.

WCA’s global network of coal companies, national coal associations and other stakeholders with an interest in the future of coal, has now reached 40 members. Orica further extends WCA’s membership beyond coal producers and strengthens the WCA’s network within the mining services sector.

Orica is active globally in the provision of explosives and blasting systems and is a leading provider of ground support in mining, with operations in more than 50 countries, customers in over 100 and headquarters in Australia.

Craig Elkington, Executive Global Head – Mining at Orica, commented: “The WCA provides a much-needed global platform for companies with a stake in the future of coal and mining. We’re delighted we now have the opportunity to interact with all the WCA member companies from across the globe and we can share how to deal with the many challenges and exciting prospects that face the industry. I am looking forward to participating in this important organisation.”

Milton Catelin, Chief Executive of the WCA, welcomed Orica to WCA, commenting: “The WCA is now in a fantastic position to engage on wider issues across the coal chain. By joining the WCA, Orica has demonstrated a commitment, along with our other Members, to addressing these crucial issues and has recognised the WCA’s role in helping companies and other organisations do this internationally.”

January 15, 2013 | Categories: Coal News, WCA

Dirty language

Milton Catelin, Chief Executive, WCA

A new year, and for many people, a new way of thinking and a new attitude – though, not for everyone. This year has already seen a number of reports in the mainstream media on coal – one thing is clear and that is the language and rhetoric used to describe coal has intensified and is fundamentally different from that used to describe other fuels.

Let me begin with the IEA’s Maria van der Hoeven whose article How to Fix the 21st Century’s Dirty Engine of Growth refers to the ‘blackest and dirtiest’ of fuels – hackneyed terms which the coal industry is used to, of course – and describes its use as a ‘troubling paradox’. But with the launch of the IEA’s latest “Medium Term Coal Market Report” comes new words. Filtered through the media, coal is faced with new, darker descriptors. We’re told, rather frequently, that the world is ‘addicted’ to fossil fuels and ‘hooked’ on a dwindling supply of the black stuff. It’s viewed as a drug – harmful to all, with no positive attributes.

This type of language, particularly from leading global institutions and mainstream media, is unhelpful. We’re not expecting neutrality but all sense of objectivity is in danger of being lost. Surely it’s not so hard to take a look on the other side and see that coal does also bring benefits for:

the developing world – without it, the world has no chance of meeting even modest poverty alleviation targets; and

the developed world which has grown its economies on the back of coal and now desperately needs the affordable energy coal provides as it tries to tackle the global financial crisis.

In 2013, it’s time for everyone to inject a little objectivity into the language used about coal.

January 10, 2013 | Categories: Coal News

High electricity prices are not what the EU needs

Aleksandra Tomczak, WCA Policy Manager

The EU has one of the highest electricity prices around the world, almost twice as high as the USA and China. Unfortunately policies currently in place do not seem to go in the right direction to correct this problem, just the opposite. The IEA’s most recent edition of the World Energy Outlook forecasts a 30% increase in the EU’s electricity prices over the next few decades.

High electricity prices might benefit power generators or the manufacturers of capital intensive energy technologies, but can hardly be good news for the EU’s stagnating economy and rising unemployment levels. Electricity is an input for nearly all goods and services and any increase in electricity prices can be felt throughout the entire economy as high energy prices reduce disposable income of households, increase production costs for the industry and decrease investment capacity of businesses.

Policy makers in the EU have been putting a lot of effort into explaining to their electorate why energy prices need to go up, quoting ageing power generation fleet, rising natural gas prices and decarbonisation targets. At the same time it is not uncommon to hear voices of support across the EU for a re-industrialisation of Europe or promises of a renaissance of European manufacturing, as a strategy for creating the jobs Europe needs to get out of the current economic crisis. The problem is that higher energy prices and industrial growth hardly go hand in hand.

Lower energy prices, on the other hand, could make a positive difference to the EU’s economy. In the USA, lower energy prices over the last few years are expected to result in a 1.1% increase in GDP in 2013; 1 million more jobs in 2014; and 3% higher industrial production than would be anticipated otherwise.

The coal industry’s proposal for lowering the cost of the EU’s low-carbon transition, and ultimately limiting electricity price increases in the EU, is to pay more attention to cost-effective mitigation actions such as improving the efficiency of coal-fired power plants. This is also a necessary milestone in the deployment of CCS.

WCA is not the only organisation to advocate the deployment of high efficiency coal-fired power plants. The International Energy Agency makes similar recommendations in its most recent Technology Roadmap. Will the EU take action?

December 12, 2012 | Categories: Coal News

Industry Body Calls for New Coal Strategy

CoalImp, the Association of UK Coal Importers, has called for a new coal strategy to complement the Government’s gas strategy, announced today.

Nigel Yaxley, managing director of CoalImp said: “This year approximately 40 per cent of the UK’s electricity has been generated from coal, and at times it has been supplying over 50% of demand.

“UK consumers have been protected from the full impact of high prices of gas-fired electricity by the diversity of our power generation system, which can still benefit from the reliability, flexibility and relatively low cost of coal, the world’s most abundant fuel.

“Last week’s Energy Bill was rightly concerned mainly with future investment, but by failing to acknowledge the importance of coal today the Government risks a less competitive UK economy tomorrow.”

Nigel Yaxley added that Government plans for long-term decarbonisation of the electricity system must not rely too heavily on any one fuel or technology.

“CoalImp fully welcomes the Government’s commitment to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), but there is a risk that it is too little too late,” he said. “CCS is crucial in a world context where coal remains the fastest growing fossil fuel, and a recent report has confirmed that CCS has the potential to compete with other low carbon forms of energy by the 2020s.”

The managing director of CoalImp has also noted Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey’s warning that development of UK shale gas resources will not lead to an era of cheap gas.

“This is one of the main reasons we have called for the development of a new strategy for coal,” he explained. “It’s vital we ensure that the UK can continue to benefit from the world’s most abundant and low cost fuel at the same time as leading the way to a future where coal is utilised in a clean and fully sustainable manner.

“Failure to do this will mean the UK’s extensive coal infrastructure and associated jobs will be lost, the electricity system will lose valuable diversity, and prices will rise.”

“By providing low cost, reliable electricity, coal can already address several of the most pressing issues facing the UK energy sector. Carbon capture and storage would mean it can also be low carbon. A clear bridge is needed from today, when coal is still generating 40 per cent of our electricity from the reliable workhorses we take for granted, to the CCS-equipped plants of the future.”

For Additional Information

Email: nigelyaxley@coalimp.org.uk

Notes for Editors

CoalImp, The Association of UK Coal Importers, is the trade association for companies involved in importing coal to the UK, including major end-users, rail companies, ports and other companies with a physical presence in the supply chain.

At 39.5%, more electricity was produced from coal over the first nine months of this year than from any other fuel source (gas 26.9%, nuclear 20.6%, others (including renewables) 13.0%). The UK consumed 62.1 million tonnes of coal in the twelve months to September 2012, including 52.7 million tonnes in power stations. Coal imports to the UK over this period were 42.8 million tonnes, representing over two thirds of the total supply. (Source – DECC statistics)

The Carbon Capture and Storage Cost Reduction Task Force interim report confirming that CCS has the potential to compete with other low carbon forms of energy by the 2020s is available via the DECC website.

Secretary of State Ed Davey’s comments on shale gas were reported in the Guardian newspaper on 28th November

December 5, 2012 | Categories: CCS, Coal News

Joy Global: Pioneering Underground Mining

WCA Member Joy Mining Machinery has released a new version of its video “Pioneering Underground Mining”.

The film explains the difference between room and pillar and longwall mining. First released in 2001 and newly updated for 2012, it quickly became the most widely distributed video in Joy Global’s library, used by universities, schools, and others in the science and technology communities.

November 26, 2012 | Categories: Coal News

Coal fastest growing fuel, again

Aleksandra Tomczak, WCA Policy Manager

In 2011 coal was again the fastest growing form of energy outside renewables and its share in primary energy consumption increased to 30.3%, which is the highest since 1969. These figures were recently made public in the BP’s flagship publication, the Statistical Review of World Energy.

This is not a new trend. Coal has been the fastest growing energy fuel every single year since 2000 and almost half of the world’s additional energy demand over the past ten years was provided by coal. And it doesn’t look like this trend is about to change. Countries such as China, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka are planning to use even more coal in the future to fuel the increasing energy demand of households and industries. According to BP, coal use has also increased in the EU over the last year.

Countries and institutions which are serious about climate change and know these basic facts should facilitate cleaner and more sustainable use of coal in the developing world, because every year delivers more evidence that the world economy needs coal.

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2012

July 30, 2012 | Categories: Coal News, Energy access

Milton Catelin Joins the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Energy Security

Chief Executive of the World Coal Association becomes a member of the world’s foremost network on energy security.

The Chief Executive of the World Coal Association (WCA), Milton Catelin, has been invited to join the prestigious World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Energy Security.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils make up the world’s foremost intellectual network, convening the most relevant and knowledgeable thought leaders from business, government, academia and civil society to address key global issues. There are over 80 Global Agenda Councils serving as a global brain trust, providing insights and recommendations that help inform the Forum’s programming, including at the Annual Meeting in Davos.

Membership of the Councils is only by the invitation of the Office of the Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Mr Catelin commented, “It is an honour and a privilege to be invited by the World Economic Forum to sit on the Global Agenda Council on Energy Security. My aim is to represent the coal perspective on energy security and highlight the importance of utilising domestic coal reserves, or accessing the relatively stable international coal market, to provide the energy needed for economic growth and development.”

“In the aftermath of the Rio+20 conference, there has never been a more urgent and relevant time to engage with the WEF network and provide thought-leadership on energy security issues,” Mr Catelin continued.

Mr Catelin will participate at this year’s Summit on the Global Agenda, often described as the world’s largest brainstorming meeting, to be held in Dubai in November.

Mr Catelin has been Chief Executive of the WCA since January 2005 and is a member of the International Energy Agency Coal Industry Advisory Board, a Trustee of the Underground Coal Gasification Association, and chairs the ScottishPower Academic Alliance. He also served on Tony Blair’s “Breaking the Deadlock” climate change initiative. Mr Catelin was a chief negotiator for Australia on both the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change and has received Awards for his environmental work from Australia, the USA and the United Nations. As a Member of the Global Agenda Council on Energy Security, Mr Catelin will be asked to identify breakthrough ideas and new pathways to advance critical energy security issues and ensure progress is made on the global agenda.

July 16, 2012 | Categories: Coal News, WCA