Resources sector welcomes climate change agreements

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian resources sector has welcomed the climate change agreement reached in Paris over the weekend.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said this week that the Paris agreement provided for five yearly reviews of national targets, underpinned by a rules-based system that will assess whether countries are meeting their commitments.

“It recognises and responds to the needs of the most vulnerable countries, including our Island neighbours in the Pacific,” Bishop said.

The Paris agreement and associated initiatives would place technology at the centre of the task of steadily lowering carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions over coming decades. As a key energy exporter, Australia was expected play an important part in helping East Asian nations achieve their targets while also having access to affordable and reliable base load energy.

First, the outcome would support and accelerate the further roll-out of low emissions coal technologies, which can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 50%.

High-efficiency low-emissions (HELE) coal–fired power plants were a central element of the emissions reductions plans of China, India, Japan and South East Asian nations tabled in Paris last week. More than 650 units were already in place in East Asia alone, with more than 1 060 of these units under construction or planned.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) pointed out that China’s embrace of these technologies has already reduced its emissions by 450-million tonnes of CO₂ annually over the last seven years, according to analysis by the International Energy Agency Clean Coal Centre.

“The boost for HELE plants is good news for Australia, because our high energy, low impurity coal is ideally suited to these power plants. It is why the International Energy Agency has projected a strong increase in Australia’s coal exports over the next 25 years,” said MCA CEO Brendan Pearson.

“The agreement will provide fresh impetus to efforts in Australia and globally on the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that long term emissions reductions targets will be 138% more costly without the widespread deployment of CCS.”

Pearson added that the agreement would also support the rapid growth of new generation nuclear power in East and South Asia, providing strong demand for Australian uranium exports. China expects to increase nuclear power by a compound 9% per annum to 2030 while India plans to treble its capacity over the next five to seven years.

Thirdly, and more broadly, the Australian minerals sector would continue to provide the raw materials for an expected expansion of the renewable energy sector.

“More than 220 t of coal are used in the construction of every wind turbine, while more than 15 mined minerals are used in the construction of a solar panel.

“The minerals sector will continue to work constructively with the government and opposition parties in the further development of domestic policy settings to meet Australia’s 2030 target,” Pearson added.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has meanwhile said that the agreement reached in Paris was in line with the work the Australian resources sector had been doing with advanced technologies to reduce emissions from use of coal and gas in power generation.

“Now that there seems to be steadfast commitment to implement HELE coal-fired power generation technologies, Queensland’s lower-emission high-energy coal reserves are well-placed, alongside our natural gas, to play an important role in the transition to a lower emissions world,” QRC CEO Michael Roche noted.