Energy / Coal

• Enter the Dragon - China to Increase Energy Investment in Pakistan

  The current administration of Pakistani President Asif Zadari is beset by multiple problems. Relations with its ally in the “global war on terror,” the U.S. have plummeted to their lowest ever level. But for the average Pakistani, of more immediate concern is the country’s ongoing energy crisis. The nation’s problem is summed up by the following figures. Pakistan’s current electricity demand is about 25,000 megawatts per day but national current electrical production is less than 20,000 megawatts per day, leaving a deficit of slightly more than 5,000 megawatts, and by 2015, domestic demand is projected to rise to 30,000 megawatts per day. The result?…

• Australia's Ongoing Coal Boom Could Provide a Safe Haven for Investors

  Investors spooked by three years of global recession have nervously scanned the globe for failsafe, sure-fire places to park their surplus capital. The rise of the non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries is fundamentally altering the world's energy markets, which underwent a historic shift in 2007 when non-OECD demand surpassed that of OECD. Demand growth outside traditional OECD markets is now the driver in the world's energy, with fossil fuels continuing to account for 88 percent of global energy demand and for over half of the annual increase in total energy demand. Another historic shift occurred last year, when…

• India’s Coal Shortages to Worsen as Coal India Reduces Production Target

  State-controlled Coal India Limited (CIL) announced that it has lowered its production target for the fiscal year to 440 million metric tons, down from the 452 million tons initially outlined in the company’s annual plan, according to an Economic Times article. Indian news agency PTI has quoted CIL Chairman N.C. Jha as confirming that they have kept the production target of at least 440 million tons. While speaking to media on the sidelines of the International Conference of Safety in Mines Research Institutes in New Delhi, the chairman cited various reasons such as heavy rainfall, strikes and delays in obtaining…

• South Africa's Effort to Wean Itself Off Coal Dependency Proving Difficult

  Coal is one of the fossil fuels most responsible for generating greenhouse gases. The effect of such emissions on the atmosphere and the consequences for long-term global warming are a major topic at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting currently underway in Durban, South Africa. Dampening the expectations of South African environmentalists, on 1 December South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters told journalists that Pretoria could not ignore the fact that South Africa is a coal-rich economy, "nor can we ignore the significant contribution of coal mining industry towards the economy." If one regards energy reserves as good news,…

• Are Coal Power Plants Now too Expensive to Pursue?

  A couple years ago I had lunch with a top executive of one of the state’s leading utilities. Here’s the gist of the question I put to him. “I know you guys want to build a new coal plant nearby here, and I believe you when you say you fully intend to sequester CO2 down the road. But here’s the problem. You can’t even begin building without first raising the price of electricity. We can argue how much – 15, 20, 30 percent – but we all know it’s going to go up.” He nodded. “Well, I’m not an economist,…

• Where Can we Expect Coal Prices to go From Here?

  While most commodities have suffered something of a roller-coaster ride in terms of prices, coal and iron ore have weathered the storm much better. Coal in particular has benefited from natural disasters such as the Queensland floods that removed a significant source of supply from the seaborne supply market earlier this year, and while spot prices for both coking coal and thermal coal have come off, they have not seen the swings of the more volatile base metals. As with iron ore, however, coal demand is very lopsided. In Asia, demand has remained strong and major importers like China have…

• The Price Tag for Clean Coal

  I wanted to get the low down on clean coal to see how clean it really is, so I visited some friends at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The modern day descendent of the Atomic Energy Commission, where I had a student job in the seventies, the leading researcher on laser induced nuclear fission, and the administrator of our atomic weapons stockpile, I figured they’d know. Dirty coal currently supplies us with 50% of our electricity, and total electricity demand is expected to go up 30% by 2030. The industry is spewing out 32 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a…

• Rio Tinto Looking to Satisfy India’s Growing Hunger for Coal

  The Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is aiming to provide a coal supply line to the rapidly growing Indian thermal coal market. Indian business daily Business Line, in its report dispatched from Perth, quoted Nik Senapati, Rio Tinto India’s managing director, as saying that his company wants to supply coal to India because India’s coal imports are projected to touch about 200 million tons over next few years. Last year, Rio Tinto supplied three million tons of coking coal to Indian steel companies such as JSW Steel and Tata Steel. A senior government official announced that India’s coal demand will…

• Canada's Environment Ministry Getting Tough with Coal Industry

  Canada’s environment ministry has proposed tougher regulations for coal-fired power plants, but they do not go far enough to help the country achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets, according to an environmental NGO. The rules proposed last week by Environment Canada apply a performance standard to coal-fired units that are either new or have reached the end of their economic life. The standard, which will affect 20 power plants, will require the power stations to achieve parity with the emissions performance of high-efficiency natural gas generation. The regulation is intended to encourage investment in cleaner generation technologies such…

• The Importance of Coal to India's Economy

  India’s coal reserves have been assessed at about 286 billion tons this year, about 3.25 percent higher than the previous year’s 276.8 billion tons, according to a published report. Citing the National Inventory on Indian Coal Resources published by the Geological Survey of India, the Indian newspaper Business Line reported that of this, the Geological Survey estimates proven reserves to be 114 billion tons, or 40 percent of the total reserves. The latest proven reserves represent a 3.6 percent increase over the previous year’s 110 billion tons. According to the report, at current level of production of about 550 million…