A group of experts in Tokyo suggested pouring radioactive water from Fukushima into the open sea. A marine biochemist explains the consequences of this absurd decision.
Coal’s inexorable decline: a mine worth millions is sold for a dollar
Coal prices are plummeting and cases of extractive companies filing for bankruptcy are on the rise. The case of an Australian mine.
The collapse in coal prices is real. The “Isaac Plains” coking coal mine in Australia, valued at 860 Australian dollars (about $631 million) three years ago has been sold for $1. According to Bloomberg, the Brazilian mining group Vale SA and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. offloaded the “Isaac Plains” mine for just $1, selling it to Australian firm Stanmore Coal Ltd., based in Brisbane. Sumitomo bought its 50% share of the business in 2012 for 430 million Australian dollars.
The new owner says the site holds an estimated 30 million metric tonnes of coal and that it is willing to invest $22.5 million to resume operations there.
“The outlook for coal is still very difficult,” said Roger Downey, Vale’s executive director for fertilizers and coal, after the sale was announced. “We see even in Australia mines that are still in the red and at some point that has to change. We have quite adverse and challenging markets.”
Mining activities began at Isaac Plains in 2006 but were halted last year when the mine shut down. At its peak, production reached as much as 2.8 million metric tonnes a year, with the coal being sold to steel producers in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
The drop in prices of both coal burnt in power stations and coking coal – used in steelmaking – is forcing mines around the world to close and is bankrupting some producers. In the last three years about 30 coal producing U.S. companies have declared bankruptcy, seven in the last year alone. Among these is Alpha Natural Resources Inc., number two coal producer in the U.S., which has filed for bankruptcy protection. The coal industry is suffering heavy losses even in Asia. Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal, has reined back production as a result of low prices. So has Australia, number one global exporter of coal for steel production. One of the factors behind the drop in prices is energy policies that halt the use of coal for power generation because of its high emissions, the principal cause of climate change.
Read the article on Behind Energy
Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale.
A federal court in Washington, D.C. has struck down the Dakota Access Pipeline, following years of campaigning by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
The Scottish island of Eigg is self-sufficient for its energy needs, relying almost entirely on renewable sources, especially thanks to a coordinated community effort.
President Magufuli in unmovable in going ahead with the Stiegler’s Gorge dam despite conservationists’ warnings of the damage it will cause the Selous Game Reserve’s ecosystem and wildlife.
A large dam along the Luangwa River in Zambia would have posed a serious risk to local people and wildlife, leading hundreds of thousands to oppose it. A call to which the government responded by halting plans to build it.
The first one megawatt solar power plant in the Chernobyl exclusion zone has become operational. This is the first step in a renewable energy development project promoted by the Ukrainian government in the area.
Gas explosions are frequent in Nigeria, where safety standards are poor. In the latest incident, a gas tanker blast killed 35 people in Nasarawa state.
The largest tidal power plant in the world will be built in the Larantuka Straits. It will serve 100,000 people and help overcome some of the challenges of energy provision in Indonesia.
Robben Island’s solar energy micro-grid project will produce almost one million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, significantly reducing the cost and impact of buying diesel.