Queensland’s proposed coal mines would produce enough direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions to effectively double the figures now reported annually to the federal government, according to new analysis from environment group Lock the Gate Alliance.
Such an increase would make the state’s target to reduce emissions by 30 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030 “effectively impossible”, the report, submitted as part of consultation on a draft resource industry development plan, states.
Stage two of the New Acland coal mine, near Oakey in the Darling Downs, was opened in 2007.Credit:Glenn Hunt
While closer major party lines have so-far not generated the headlines seen before the last federal election, where federal Labor’s drubbing in Queensland was attributed in part to its handling of the Adani mine issue, the topic of coal mining’s future remains a live issue in the state.
The new report used publicly available data provided by companies behind the 34 most plausible proposed Queensland coal projects or expansions, listed by the federal office of the chief economist, to determine potential future scope one and two emissions.
Such greenhouse gasses feature waste elements including released methane, emissions from on-site energy generation and electricity drawn from the grid to power mining activity. They exclude scope three emissions from burning the coal produced by the mines.
If the 34 projects proceeded to production at their intended capacity and lifespan, more than an additional 21.4 million tonnes of scope one and two emissions would be added to the state’s annual tally – a figure greater than that reported from existing mines in 2019 and equal to all emissions from the state’s agriculture industry that year.
The entirety of the projects’ planned production would add a total of more than 855.8 million tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide to the earth’s atmosphere – 70 per cent more than Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions in the year to September.
The report also pointed to recent research showing significant underestimation of methane released from the state’s coal-mining activity.
Queensland’s proposed coal mines would double emissions, report suggests
Source: Philippines Alive
