Coal’s role in power strong

COAL use has not only survived the onslaught of renewables it has thrived in its global use as a power source.

And while renewable energy is booming, the coal companies that have stuck with the commodity, despite climate change, are reaping massive financial benefits.

An analysis by BP shows renewable energy has failed to have any impact on coal’s global market share over the past 20 years and Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan said it showed that the Australian people had been lied to by activists about what was happening in the region.

Meanwhile companies like Glencore, which is Australia’s biggest coal producer, are reporting huge growth in earnings on the back of coal. It reported $ US9.8 billion ($ A13.6 billion) in total coal revenues in 2017, up 43 per cent from the previous year.

The BP review showed coal use in power stations had increased in Australia’s biggest markets of China, India, Japan, South Korea and South East Asia, but has fallen in the US and Europe.

BP senior economist Spencer Dale said the share of nonfossil fuels in 2017 was actually only a little lower than it was 20 years ago and it was a huge wake- up call for the world.

He said the growth of renewables had not offset the declining share of nuclear.

“I had no idea that so little progress had been made until I looked at these data,’’ he said.

“The share of coal in the power sector in 1998 was 38 per cent – exactly the same as in 2017 – with the slight edging down in recent years simply reversing the drift up in the early 2000s associated with China’s rapid expansion.

“To have any chance of getting on a path consistent with meeting the Paris climate goals there will need to be significant improvements in the power sector.’’

Senator Canavan said the figures showed “the reports of coal’s death are greatly exaggerated’’.

“That’s great news for Queensland, which is the coal exporting hub of Australia,” he said. “The economies and governments of Asia will go where the cheapest power is.

“There is not a lot gas in Asia and nuclear is on the nose in Japan and that means coal has come through to fill the gap.

“Increasingly the world is going to need more coal. Let’s hope it is the best coal, which is Australian coal.

“The green activists have been telling lies. Regularly they say India won’t need coal but India’s coal production is 53 times the size of solar.’’