Adaptations to reduce greenhouse emissions in the minerals industries

Technologies that will allow us to continue using our large coal supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions are required. The federal and state governments will pursue solutions that are cost-effective and that will provide reliable energy supplies so that the Australian economy will continue to grow and that we in the community can continue to live our lives without too much disruption to our current standards of living.

Australia is trying to achieve 60% reduction in national emissions by 2050, compared with 2000 levels. Working out ways to reduce our emissions while still using our coal supplies in NSW will be a big component in achieving this target.

Why can't we just use renewable energy such as solar or wind to meet all our electricity demands? Find out more ...

Funding research for lower emission coal-fired power

In NSW the coal industry has voluntarily contributed to a $300 million fund for the development and demonstration of technologies that can lower greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power stations. Coal producers have agreed to a levy from every tonne of coal produced; based on current production rates, it is estimated that in the next 10 years this COAL 21 fund will raise around $1 billion.

There is a national action plan to fast track the commercialisation of processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of coal. An additional $1 billion has been committed by the state and federal governments to develop and demonstrate low emission technologies to address climate change.

While money is being made available for research into future technologies, the minerals industry and individual mining sites are already implementing other initiatives to lessen their carbon footprints.

Using fugitive methane for electricity

In November 2007 BHP Illawarra Coals West Cliff Mine, south-west of Sydney, developed a power generation plant to convert extremely dilute methane in the ventilation air from the mine into electricity. Gas is captured and used to generate 1.2 megawatts of electricity through the power plant situated near the mine. Since 1995 the mine has been capturing and using the methane gas, drained from coal seams prior to mining for safety reasons. Yet not all the methane is able to be captured, and only small percentages of methane are present in the ventilation air released from underground operations.

The development of power plant technology is said to create a greenhouse gas emission saving of up to 240 000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent every year, and enough energy to power 60 000 homes each year. Read more about this project at:
http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/case-studies/west-cliff-ventilation-air-methane-project/

Saving water

Drought conditions in NSW have seen the mining industry develop innovations in sourcing, saving and re-using water:

Establishment of a $100 000 recycled water pipeline to cut the Illawarra Coals Dendrobium mine's catchment water use by more than 75%, alleviating some of the pressure on Sydney's drinking water supplies. The pipeline will cut the use of Sydney water from 90 megalitres a year to less than 20, a saving equivalent to 70 Olympic-sized pools a year.¹ The mine received a Sydney Water 'largest volume reduction' award for the 2007/08 financial year for savings of 230 kilolitres per day.²
Establishment of a water filtration plant at Illawarra Coals Appin mine, which cut the mine's use of Sydney's drinking water by 85 megalitres in the first five months alone.
The Springvale Coal/Delta Electricity Water Transfer Scheme, which transfers mine water by pipelines to the Delta Electricity Wallerawang Power Station, saving over 3 gigalitres of Sydney's catchment drinking water in the first six months alone.
Irrigation using water that is surplus from mining operations at Xstrata Coal's Ulan mine
Source: www.ulancoal.com.au

Cadia Valley Operations gold mine ensures that 80% of the water used at the site is recycled. Initiatives include the use of treated effluent from the neighbouring towns of Orange and Blayney - this provides 50% of the site's water requirements.
A $7 million irrigation system at the Xstrata Coals Ulan mine, which enables surplus mine water to be pumped out to irrigate 242 hectares of cattle grazing pasture, re-using 7 megalitres of water per hectare per year. Find out more at: http://www.xstrata.com/media/news/2003/11/05/0702CET/

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¹BHP Billiton, 2008, Media release: 'Illawarra coal's Dendrobium mine saves water, http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bbContentRepository/docs/illawarraCoalsDendrobiumMineSavesWater.pdf

²Sydney Water, 2008, Every drop counts - Water efficiency awards http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Publications/CaseStudies/EDCWaterEfficiencyAwards2008.pdf