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The steelworks at Port Kembla is the largest steel production
facility in Australia. (ABC Illawarra: Ainslie Drewitt-Smith)
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Key points
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The 2020 United Nations Emissions Gap report this week found that despite a brief dip in carbon dioxide emissions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3 degrees Celsius this century.
That is far beyond the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming to well below 2C and pursuing 1.5C.
Australia has promised to cut its 2005 emission levels by 26-28 per cent before 2030 as part of the Paris Agreement and is now on track to meet those targets without the need to count carry over credits, the Federal Government said this week.
Meanwhile, there are no agreed targets for businesses in Australia, nor a mechanism to ensure they commit to meaningful targets.
"The Government system is pretty weak so it doesn't actually cap those emissions," he said.
"If you are a company that has very little public profile, you have no retail facing element to your company, then you could try and hide behind the barriers and try and get away with it.
"One would hope there is enough integrity, enough goodwill to do more, because the climate is only getting worse. We are seeing more bushfires, more floods, more intense storms."
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As human induced global warming increases, extreme bushfires like
this at Bawley Point in December 2019 will occur more often.(ABC Illawarra: Ainslie Drewitt-Smith)
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Wollongong Coal is an Illawarra-based coal miner exporting all its coking coal to India, so has little interaction with the local community.
This week it gained approval to reopen its mothballed Russell Vale mine and generate 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over five years.
As part of the approval process it was required to do little if anything to reduce emissions, and does not mention emissions at all in its environmental policy published on its website.
It was also not required to reduce carbon emissions in the final approval report from NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).
"The project, in isolation, is unlikely to influence global emissions and climate change trajectories," the DPIE report said.
"This increase [in emissions] is unlikely to affect Australia achieving its national mitigation targets in any material way."
Another coal mining company, South32, is seeking approval to extract 78 million tonnes of metallurgical coal from its Dendrobium mine expansion project near Wollongong up until 2048.
As well as coming out strongly to sell the benefits of ongoing employment, and coal supply to the Port Kembla steelworks, South32 is actively promoting its emission targets.
"South32 is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050," a company spokesman said.
"At Appin Mine, our gas drainage and capture network enables the reuse of waste coal mine gas to generate power," the company said.
"In 2019, the gas captured was used to generate equivalent electricity for around 52,000 homes, or roughly 45 per cent of all homes in Wollongong."
South32 has also completed a 7,200-panel solar farm in Cannington in Queensland to offset gas consumption with solar energy.
But does this go far enough to enable to company to achieve significant carbon emission targets?
Creative accounting in emissions
Mr Merzan from the Climate Institute said commitments to offset emissions by coal mines need to be looked at carefully.
"A coal mine is a hard one to offset because you have got the emissions that come with the actual production of the coal, but then most of the emissions from coal come when you actually burn it," he said.
Scope 3 emissions refer to emissions not generated directly by the miner, but indirectly by the consumer — and often in another country.
"So are they looking to just offset the emissions they are directly responsible for? Or will they be looking to offset the emissions that come with actually producing that coal when its finally consumed?" Mr Merzan asked."The best practise is to offset your entire carbon footprint, that includes the Scope 3 emissions."
How Germany is quitting coal
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| Germany is doing what Australia says it can't — shutting down its
coal industry. Read more ...
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"If you are talking steel, to move from using coking coal to make steel to eventually move to using hydrogen, or hydrogen mixed with other gases, to create steel is actually a fundamental restructuring of that part of the industry," he said.
"That's very capital intensive and very difficult, but it will happen around the world."Given they compete against each other it's going to be capital intensive, its going to be difficult."
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The Port Kembla steelworks could increase production in response to
demands for renewable energy infrastructure. (ABC News: Gavin Coote) |
Paris Agreement goals
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The company supports the 2050 Paris Agreement target and has a near-term target of reducing "carbon emissions intensity" by at least 12 per cent by 2030.
Bluescope may also be working on plans to transition to so-called "green steel" and to adopt hydrogen into its energy mix.
"Climate action is now embedded in Bluecope's new corporate strategy," a company spokesman said.The company in November this year announced a $20 million investment program in conjuction with the NSW Government to manufacture components used in wind and solar projects, but is yet to go into detail on plans for green steel.
"Watch this space as we will have a lot more to say in the new year," the spokesman said.
Hydrogen seen as a way out of coal
Either way, the use of hydrogen could be the key to bringing emissions towards zero, including offsets.
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| CSIRO's Daniel Roberts says Australia is seeing more large-scale green hydrogen projects in preparation to meet demand from overseas markets. (ABC News: Mark Leonardi) |
He said, in Australia, 'brown' hydrogen was usually made from natural gas, while in some locations 'black' hydrogen was made from coal.
But making both 'blue' and 'green' hydrogen opened up significant opportunities to decarbonise the smeltering process.
"The carbon credentials of using hydrogen in any process relies strongly on where you get that hydrogen from," he said.
"Hydrogen from renewables via electrolysis is one way to go, and making it from gas and storing the CO2 is also carbon neutral and could be another way to go."
Australia sticking to its targets
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| The momentum for action on climate change is growing, but there's
not yet enough power in it to budge the Coalition, writes Melissa
Clarke. Read more ...
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"The key thing is not to use 'hydrogen as coming along' as an excuse not to do the hard graft today," he said.
"We have to do the hard graft in transport as we electrify our industries, we have to do the hard graft moving away from coal, we have to do the hard graft not bringing on new gas fields and new pipelines."We have to do all of that, and as we do that over this decade we will build the possibilities of a new hydrogen industry. But its not an either-or."
Links
- Pacific to pressure Scott Morrison on emissions ahead of UN climate summit
- Momentum is swinging towards more climate action, but Australia is sticking to its current targets
- Scientist Tim Flannery warns of climate impacts if South32 coal mine expansion approved
- Coal mine expansion above Sydney's water catchment gets green light despite concerns
- The day that plunged Australia's climate policy into 10 years of inertia
- Germany is shutting down its coal industry for good, so far without sacking a single worker
- 'Disappointment' is the word at UN climate talks — and some are blaming Australia
- World 'loses an important opportunity' as UN climate talks end with disappointment
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