The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the AusIMM, focuses on “promoting excellence across all professional disciplines through advocacy and provision of continuing professional development opportunities.”

New Vale lignite mine, Mataura, Southland.

One such development opportunity might have been the AusIMM’s  upcoming field trip this Saturday to the lignite fields of eastern Southland, as part of its upcoming conference – except the proposed development of those lignite fields bears no kinship with “excellence.”

The proposed development of the lignite was one of Solid Energy’s biggest failures. They spoke boldly about the wealth and glory that would flood the region, but the project was a complete washout, and its exorbitant cost helped lead Solid Energy into financial ruin.

Promotional material for Saturday’s fieldtrip describes the aborted briquetting plant as “the initial step in [a] thwarted lignite development strategy”. Promoters need to say something like that because it would be impossible justifying a field trip to a failure. This plant failed to produce the wee energy sumptuous briquettes that it said it would produce because they were plagued with difficulties. GTL’s North Dakota plant had to be closed after spontaneous combustions.

Calling the development strategy ‘thwarted’ is a compliment to CANA and the hundreds of people who took part in the Keep the Coal in the Hole Summer Festival because thwart holds the meaning of being successfully opposed.

What would be the ramifications of openly taking geologists on a trip to see an error in judgment? It could be professional suicide, but it could be the best reason to go on a field trip. Why doesn’t The Mineral Institute encourage its members to openly consider what happens when financial hunger and CEO ego override common sense?

Puzzling on ways to exploit “the potential of NZ’s largest onshore energy resource” has become a fixation to some geologists and mining executives. Thirty years ago Liquid Fuels Trust mooted the idea transforming lignite into liquid petroleum, but studies at the time revealed lignite’s high moisture content was a real problem, so, in order to dry the lignite out, it was suggested they could simply drain the entire Mataura Basin!

“Think big.” or “Don’t think.”? Imagine how much more advanced we would be as a nation if that unbridled ambition went into finding a sustainable solution to our energy needs. The solution is out there, and it will make a lot of people rich, but the industry seems intent to keep flogging a dead horse.

The Southland and Otago lignite comprise 85% of New Zealand’s known coal resources, so the extractive industry continues to act like a heat-seeking missile with an in-built purpose to destroy. The damp allure of brown coal has them aroused, so a new generation of geologists is being taken to have a look and smell the dank perfume of this resource.

Will anyone notice the farms? It is well known that some of the most fertile soils in Southland cover the lignite fields metres below, but in the process of digging up the lignite, much of this fertility and potential for farming production would be lost. When all the focus is on what can be dug up, will anyone notice how agriculturally productive the area is? Will they consider the stability of the community?

Climate change concerns aside, it is a peculiar wisdom that seeks to destroy fertile land to dig up a resource that we know will contribute to the destruction of our earth. Loss of farmland, the change from private to corporate ownership of the land, degradation of community, irreversible damage to soil structure, and the obvious problem of pollution are legitimate concerns.

The destruction of fertile farmland by coal interests is at the centre of a major debate in Australia’s New South Wales, where recent approval of China coal giant Shenhua’s proposal to mine the fertile Liverpool Plains caused the Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to describe the approval as a “world gone mad.”

 AusIMM’s Code of Ethics directs them to deal with clients, colleagues and the community in a manner that upholds the principles of anti-discrimination, and of equity.   But what if it’s conservation that is being discriminated against? And what if the climate isn’t being given an equitable chance? Where does their code of ethics stand on that?

Attendees of the field trip will be provided with an overview and an update on the potential of this resource, and, of course, they are only talking about the lignite. Soil, water, air, and a vibrant community are not considered resources when dollar amounts are the subject in discussion. Organisers intend to discuss the regional geological setting and coalfields from a number of vantage points, but if all of those vantage points are in favour of mining, the outcome of the discussion is skewed.

Coal Action Murihiku wrote to AusIMM to ask for speaking rights during the field trip. They hoped to give voice to the vantage point of letting the lignite lie by exposing the downside to development. AusIMM has not responded to their request.

It would be a fine thing if AusIMM used this field trip as an opportunity to teach its members that sometimes a resource achieves its highest value by being left alone, but that is unlikely. It is also unlikely that they will point out that lignite is a low grade fuel with no legitimate place in New Zealand’s sustainable future, but they could. The evidence left by Solid Energy’s fiasco lends itself to that interpretation.

The post The Field Trip to Failure appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Last year Environment Southland revealed that both Invercargill and Gore had exceeded air pollution standards multiple times due to the on going use of lignite and coal for domestic heating and has amongst the poorest air quality in New Zealand: http://www.es.govt.nz/your-council/news/2013/tough-choices-ahead-on-how-homes-are-heated/

Venture Southland has researched a range of energy options available in Southland and has recognised wood as one of the better long-term solutions for our future energy needs, both economically and environmentally: http://www.scribd.com/doc/98146950/Venture-Southland-Wood-Energy-Demand-Assessment-EIS-Energy-Final-Report-WEB

The Dunedin City Council has come to a similar conclusion and conversion to wood pellet heating systems is being actively promoted: http://www.bioenergy.org.nz/wood_fuels.asp

A number of Southland Schools and our swimming pool have replaced coal boilers for ones using wood pellets. Although initial costs were greater than reinstalling a coal system, running costs become cheaper over time and the level of ash produced and maintenance required is much less using wood. Schools felt the health of their children was also an important consideration because the negative effects of using coal are well known. Economically and morally wood fired boilers were the best choice.

Ascot Park Hotel in Invercarill is nationally recognised for being one of the best examples of a business using sustainable practices and having a minimal environmental footprint and it has won multiple awards for doing so. The hotel’s environmental efforts have actually attracted business and have proven to be a commercial success story as well: http://www.ascotparkhotel.co.nz/sustainability

You can imagine my surprise when I read the article in the Southland Times (January 13) that they are replacing the old lignite boilers with new lignite boilers and board member Angela Newell is quoted as being disappointed that a greener option had not been explored.

I struggle to understand how the management of our Licensing Trust can be so short sighted in their decision to use lignite again and have effectively sabotaged Ascot Park’s progress in becoming one of the most environmentally friendly hotels in New Zealand.

You can comment on the Southland Times article or write a Letter to the Editor of the Southland Times on this issue. 

The post Ascot Park Hotel In Invercargill Ruins Its Sustainability Story By Choosing Lignite appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network activist at Mataura briquetting plant

16 October 2013– Coal activists are cheering today at the news that Solid Energy and GLT Ltd are mothballing the lignite briquette plant in Mataura, Southland, and said they were confident that a final decision later this month would shut it for good.

This is the final nail hammered into the coffin of Solid Energy’s grandiose plans to turn farmland into an open-cast lignite mine: a multi-billion dollar plan to use some of the world’s dirtiest coal to convert into diesel, urea, and into highly experimental “briquettes.” (see Solid Energy history, below).

“This is a great day for the climate – Southland’s coal is being kept right where it should be – in the hole, propping up beautiful, fertile farmland,” said Rosemary Penwarden of Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA).

“Meanwhile, Solid Energy has left a divided community, sponsorships abandoned, and a valley full of tenant farmers wondering what their future is going to be.  This should be a warning for any community when a big coal company comes to town, promising the earth.”

After Ravensdown walked away from the coal-to-urea project, and Fonterra confirmed it wouldn’t use the briquettes, Solid Energy’s plans were looking pretty shaky.  After Solid’s economic downfall, the company turned to its partner in the briquetting plant, GTL Energy Australia, to continue in its efforts to get the briquette plant up and running.

While GTL is still talking up the success of the briquette plant, over the course of this year, neighbours have continued to report – from their observations of the plant, and after their regular meetings with the plant manager – that the experimental technology has suffered from continued problems.   The company had even been seen returning briquettes to the New Vale mine from whence the coal had come, returning the coal to its hole.

In June, a CANA Freedom of Information request found that a similar effort by GTL to trial the technology in North Dakota had resulted in an explosion in the plant, that was then closed down. The FOI showed that Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment officials had expressed grave concerns at the fire risks in Mataura.

Last month, on 18 September, the local fire department attended a fire at the Mataura plant after dust in some ducting caught alight.

“This whole sorry mess, along with the financial instability of Solid Energy, should be a warning to the Government not to trust the promises of Big Coal.  Perhaps their eyes should be now turning to the shaky financial condition of Bathurst Resources, who want to dig up the Denniston Plateau” said Ms Penwarden.

Some of Solid Energy’s past promises

September 2009:  Solid promises 500 jobs from lignite to Urea

February 2011: Solid Energy promises lignite projects worth $1.5 billion a year 

September 2011: Briquetting plant: Solid promises 85 full time positions (now down to one, with three jobs lost this week)

The post Southland coal looks set to stay in the hole as briquette plant mothballed appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Don Elder and Bill English – back when they used to smile at each other – turning the sod for Solid Energy’s failed lignite briquetting plant

So we finally have the Government’s plan to restructure finances of the heavily indebted Solid Energy. There were only ever two main paths.

The first was liquidation, with the liquidator selling assets (mainly current mines and permits) to pay some of the debts. There are no obvious NZ buyers with the cash, so these mines would have gone to Australian, Chinese, Indian investors with the capital to buy them and expand further.

The second had to involve quite a lot of taxpayer money to enable Solid to keep trading as a State Owned Enterprise. After all, we the public own Solid Energy so we own its debts and their $389 million of debt is actually our debt, unfair as that is to those of us who have opposed their adventures all the way. When a country starts defaulting on its debts nasty things can follow.

Both paths were unpalatable, but for climate change reasons the first would have been much worse.

Reactions among the “keep the coal in the hole” fraternity have favoured outrage at the amount of taxpayers’ money involved, at the shares given to the banks (“privatisation”), and at the commitment by Solid to keep on mining. It feels good to be angry. But maybe we have missed something?

CANA is committed to phasing out coal by stopping new mines, and the expansion of existing mines, in order to protect a liveable climate.

Here we have the largest coal company in the country shrinking its operations, seriously strapped for cash. Coal prices have slumped and are unlikely to recover soon. Underground mining is uneconomic, even for high quality coking coal, hence the closure of Spring Creek and Huntly East. Annual production is down by nearly half a million tonnes: that’s over a million tonnes less carbon dioxide. The lignite stupidities are a distant memory except for one briquetting plant which doesn’t work and has been written off in the company’s books.

Solid has no cash to open any new mines for quite some time. It will continue its existing open cast operations at a lower production rate and try to recoup some of its losses. If we were to imagine the beginning of the end of coal – the start of the phase out – wouldn’t it look like this?

The bit I get angry about is that it has all been done off the backs of the miners who have been brutally dumped without warning when the price dropped. It didn’t need to be that way and we need to support those communities.

Apart from this, it appears we can pay less attention to Solid Energy for a while and focus our attention on Bathurst Resources, on divestment, and on persuading major users of coal within New Zealand to switch to renewable sources.

The post Is this what the phase-out of coal looks like? appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

The last month or so has seen a number of revelations on several of our coal fronts.  From Solid Energy walking away from the briquetting plant in Southland to ongoing developments for Bathurst Resources’ efforts to start mining the beautiful Denniston plateau, it’s been hard to keep up with it all.  Yet still, none of them are digging up any more coal. Let’s try and keep it that way.

What’s in this update?

1.     Lignite briquetting plant

2.     Denniston update

3.     Bathurst, new neighbour in a small town

4.     Bill McKibben tour and divestment

5.     Auckland Coal Action’s fight against Fonterra’s coalmine

6.     Coming up:  Generation Zero’s “What’s the Holdup” Tour

7.     Film about “Bidder 70” coming to NZ

8.      International – and climate science catchup

9.     Other news and resources

1.  Lignite briquetting plant

The trials of the Solid Energy/GTL briquetting plant continue at Mataura, with Solid Energy announcing late last month that it will walk away from the plant.  The media covered little of this announcement, but you can find out a lot more about what’s been going on there from our press release on the day.

Given our network includes locals living near to the plant, we have been able to get a lot more information about what’s been going on there – a lot more than what the media’s been covering.  And none of it’s good.

We also managed to get, through the Official Information Act, a document showing us what we suspected: the GTL plant in North Dakota had a massive explosion and is now being dismantled.  So this technology remains experimental.  Why should beautiful Southland farmland be dug up so that GTL can continue to try out its dirty technology to sell it on to Indonesia?

Solid Energy sponsorship under scrutiny:  You may also have missed this article about the millions Solid Energy spent on sponsorship.  We call it buying out criticism and it’s something that most coal and oil companies do to stop local protest about their activities.

2.  Denniston update

The ins and outs of Forest & Bird’s legal wrangles with Bathurst have been very complicated. But now Debs Martin has set it all out in an update.  Tim wrote a blog about it, but you might want to go directly to Debs’ update.  Suffice to say, the process continues – there are still Forest & Bird appeals in the pipeline and the company continues to struggle financially.

3.  Bathurst, new neighbour in a small town

Meanwhile, down in Southland, Rosemary Penwarden went to see Bathurst’s mine at Nightcaps. This is her account of what she found.

“Open cast mining explicitly turns the soil, it’s a bit like farming, the difference is once mining’s finished you put it back.” – Hamish Bohannan, CEO of Bathurst Resources

Bathurst Resources CEO Hamish Bohannan has never actually worked in the mining industry. He’s been around minerals extraction in Australia.  But Bathurst, his so-called “New Zealand” company that wants to destroy the Denniston Plateau, is actually his first ever coal company. Trust us, he says to Coasters. We know what we’re doing. For example, see how well we are going in Southland.

Last week CANA members went to Nightcaps to see Bathurst’s Southland operation for ourselves. The first thing we noticed, apart from the acrid coal smell that sits in the back of your throat, was that the little historic art deco butcher’s shop on Nightcaps’ main road has disappeared, so mine trucks can turn more easily. At a glance, a few more houses have had a coat of paint this past year. The art deco hotel has been repainted, and is still for sale. The Four Square store is doing a roaring trade, as apparently is the local contractor, Transport Services Ltd, though trucks were all lined up and shiny with nowhere to go at this time of year. Bathurst gives the local school free coal.

Down at the mine, things are not going quite to plan. Last year the hillside above the main pit fell in, sending about four million tonnes of overburden onto the coal. Bathurst paid the farmer about $14 million (one neighbour thought it was $40 million plus payouts) for the $1.1 million property.

The land is on a fault line, so is prone to slipping. That also makes the seams variable in size and the coal variable in quality. As local miners know, the best coal is already long gone. One miner said he prefers lignite to Takitimu coal. (When Mataura briquettes were mentioned, we only got chuckles.)

That has not stopped Bathurst opening a new pit, Coaldale, along the western side of the town, doubling the size of their operation. This is also prone to slipping. When we were there the same sticky mud that foiled 19th century miners was still foiling Bathurst and their contractors, Stevensons. Operations stopped completely the previous week because of snow, and wet weather was slowing work while we were there. “Smoko” appeared to last the whole hour and a half of our visit. What looked like a small waterfall was described as “just runoff” into the pit.

A new and very expensive coal sorter is supposedly arriving soon from Germany to replace the current dangerous (but still in action) old one. Where does Bathurst get the money to pay for this? It didn’t look like they were making much while we were there.

The next phase of Bathurst’s expansion plans would be “hilltop removal” of currently forested land even further to the west, near the town’s beautifully preserved and meticulously kept cemetery. A walk around this cemetery is a peek into a history, common to all mining towns, of tragedies, young men’s lives lost to coal.

4.  Bill McKibben tour: Divestment discussions begin – and campaign takes off internationally

In the wake of Bill McKibben’s tour of the country last month, many people are beginning to discuss divestment campaigns. It’s what Bill was encouraging, and we at CANA are also getting to grips with it.  Standby for updates to come soon.

Meanwhile, Jenny Campbell of Coal Action Murihiku and member of the Dunedin Climate Justice Group, has this news:

Divestment begins in Anglican Church. Good news!

People from Auckland’s St Paul’s Cathedral Climate Change Action group have organised a motion to be presented at their Diocesan Synod (decision making body) in September about encouraging those involved in investing funds on behalf of the church, to be required to divest from companies involved in extraction and/ or production of fossil fuels within 2 years, and not to invest in any new fossil fuel initiatives as part of their commitment through their present ethical investments policies. Their accompanying notes help explain the imperative for this action.

They have plans to spin it around all the other New Zealand Dioceses to get them to action this policy as well. They intend to get the Bishops involved and think there will be a keen interest in doing this because of Anglican’s commitment to ‘Care of Creation’ as one of the guiding principles of the Anglicans internationally. We have a special responsibility here in Aotearoa/ NZ because  ours is a 3 tikanga church involving not only Maori and Pakeha but also Pasifika peoples who are already seeing the effects of climate change on their people, other living things, their way of life and their economy.

It is hoped to appeal to other peoples of faith in our country to join us with this decision and ensure divestments in the places we have influence.

Rangimarie, kia kaha

Jenny.

But there are also very good signs coming out of the US, where President Obama made his first big climate change speech.  Along with talking about needing to stop emissions from coal, both at home and with international US investment banks,  Obama specifically called on people to “divest” from fossil fuels to bring about social change.

The campaign is beginning to take hold.  The massive United Church of Christ has adopted a resolution to divest from fossil fuels.  Dutch bank Rabobank has announced it will not invest in shale gas (will this policy be repeated by Rabobank in NZ?), and a huge Financial group in Norway, Storebrand, has pulled its investments out of 19 companies associated with Canada’s filthy tarsands.

5.  Auckland Coal Action support fight against Mangatawhiri coal mine

The main focus of ACA’s work this year is opposing the new coal mine planned for Mangatawhiri near Auckland. The mine will be owned by Fonterra and is intended to supply its factories for drying milk powder.

Last month we stood along state highway 2, near the proposed mine site in protest as a long line of cars filed back to Auckland after the holiday weekend.

Locals weren’t keen to get out with us in front of their friends and neighbours, but were happy for us to be there. And, make no mistake, they are strong in their opposition to the mine. Last month they held the inaugural meeting of the Coal Free Mangatawhiri group with around 20 founding members.

This week we are busy painting anti-coal signs to go up on Mangatawhiri properties, as requested by some of the locals. For next month we will be organising to get as big a contingent as possible to attend the consent hearings for the mine.

To get in touch with us, or, if you would like to help, please email aucklandcoalaction@gmail.com

Our next meeting will be on Saturday 4 August, 1-4 pm at the Quaker House 113 Mt Eden Rd, Auckland. New members welcome.

6. Coming up:  Generation Zero’s “What’s the Holdup” Tour

Coming to a town near you, from next week,  is Generation Zero’s “What’s the holdup tour”.  It’ll be a great opportunity to talk transport solutions, obstacles to climate action and showcase Aotearoa’s opportunities to move beyond fossil fuels.   They’ll have high level experts – and young Kiwis who are working on solutions.

This very positive-sounding tour will be at 13 different towns up and down the country, with the first in Dunedin on Monday 15^th.

Find out more here. Or their facebook page.

7.    Bidder 70 film coming to NZ

Tim de Christopher, a young US climate activist, was recently released from two years in federal prison for bidding at a US oil and gas auction as an act of civil disobedience. Bidder 70, a documentary just released in the United States, tells the story.

Of the film, Tim says: “At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like.”  He says that his actions of civil disobedience are appropriate to the scale of the crisis we face.

Of the environmental movement, Tim says:

“The way the environmental movement has been, it’s like a football game. And our team is getting slaughtered. The refs have been paid off and the other side is playing with dirty tricks. And so, it’s no longer acceptable for us to stay in the stands. It’s time to rush the field. It’s time to stop the game.”

Climate groups around Aotearoa, including CANA and with the support of Greenpeace NZ, have banded together to bring Bidder 70 to New Zealand, beginning with a first screening in Wellington later this month. We hope to have a local Coal Action presence at each screening, and we want as many people as possible to see this film.

Watch the trailer  And Watch Tim on the David Letterman show 

Share these! Keen to help? Email Rosemary rose.p@ihug.co.nz for details.

8.  International – and climate science catchup

Arctic melt picks up

This year’s Arctic melt is starting to take a nosedive.  While it isn’t yet at the same low levels at this time last year, it’s worth keeping an eye on.  This page gives you daily updates.  Also worth noting that the Arctic tundra is suffering unprecedented fires from a heatwave up there.

Climate consensus

In case you missed it, this new study was released, showing that more than 97% of scientists agree that global warming’s man made, caused by the burning of fossil fuels.   On the back of the study they launched the Consensus Project – do check it out, as it has great graphics you can use in your own work and send to friends.

400ppm milestone reached

Since our last newsletter, the atmosphere reached a scary milestone – of 400ppm of C02 in the atmosphere.  This is not something we were aiming for, unfortunately, indeed even 350ppm is considered not very safe, especially for our Pacific Island neighbours.  This is the highest it’s been since humans walked the planet. Since the Pleistocene, 3-5million years ago.  Of course the NZ media pretty much ignored it.  Scientist Jim Salinger wrote a great piece in the NZ Herald, who then went and “balanced” it with a piece by climate denier Chris de Freitas two days later that was riddled with basic scientific errors. The sooner our media stops treating climate denial as having equal standing with our climate scientists, the better.

NZ and global warming

The wild weather we’ve been having is not going to be an unusual event in the future, warns Victoria University’s Dave Frame.  Indeed, this is the same message delivered by James Renwick after the Wellington storm. While that storm couldn’t be put down to climate change, Dr Renwick noted to Radio New Zealand that actually every storm we get now “has a little bit of climate change in the background” as our warming world loads extra moisture into the atmosphere.

Australia lignite fight:  There’s another fight going on around lignite vs farmland – in Australia’s state of Victoria, where the Government wants to dig up all the lignite (brown coal) under some of the state’s most fertile farmland. This great feature covers it all.

Also, on Australia, Kristin Gillies and Jenny Campbell were lucky enough to spend three days with a bunch of coal activists from across the country.  Read their account of the meeting.

9. news and resources 

RMA “reforms”

We’re all very worried about the impact of the proposed RMA reforms.  The Greens have got an open letter to Amy Adams calling on her to save the RMA.  If you want to support the campaign and sign this, go here.

Coal for Steel

You may have missed Jeanette Fitzsimon’s great editorial in the Nelson Mail about the alternatives to coal for making steel.

Coromandel Watchdog closes down drillrig for 30 hours

While this isn’t about coal, it’s about inspiration – congratulations to our brave colleagues in the Coromandel who shut down a Newmont Gold drilling rig on conservation land for 30 hours last weekend.  See the story on TVNZ. And the full story and photos from the team over at their website.

The post Newsletter July 2013 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network activist at Mataura briquetting plant

According to information in an OIA about health and safety issues at the Mataura plant – recently received by CANA – the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment also has expressed concerns about the safety of the technology.

In handwritten notes an MBIE staffer noted the closure of GTL’s North Dakota plant:

“At plant in USA was an overpressure event – was when plant stopped. Dust spontaneously combusted.”

Another staffer had also written a report of their visit to the plant:

“I said I had a concern expressed to MBIE that plant has potential to explode.”

CANA has heard that two managers have already walked away from the plant citing safety concerns.

“Solid Energy has no money to pay for the at least $1.6 million required to get the lignite plant in Southland going and is right to walk away,” said Rosemary Penwarden from Coal Action Network Aotearoa. “But GTLE should also walk away.

“We don’t need our precious Southland farmland dug up to prop up experimental and unsafe technology that uses dirty lignite coal and contributes to climate change. Moreover, GTL wants to use this Southland plant so it can set up a similar plant in Indonesia. Why should we be the guinea pigs?”

Release from earlier today: 

It’s now been three days since Solid Energy said it was about to make a statement about the future of its failing lignite briquetting plant in Southland (1). Yet there has been no announcement.

This delay confirms reports Coal Action Network has been getting from on the ground at Mataura: that the plant is having all sorts of difficulties and that Solid Energy and partner GTL Energy Australia are in dispute over its future.

“There are still many hurdles to overcome before this plant produces briquettes for sale,” said Rosemary Penwarden of Coal Action Network. “While Solid Energy might be about to walk away, its partner GTL Energy’s future depends on this project going ahead.”

There appears to be a dispute between GTL Energy, which owns the still-untested technology, and Solid Energy, over who will pay out another $1.6m required for, amongst other things, a drying shed needed to dry the briquettes: somewhat of an oversight that they didn’t foresee their briquettes not standing up to Southland’s weather.

Other problems include:

• Ongoing issues with the briquettes, that first spontaneously combusted, and now are having problems drying out in the cold Southland weather. The drying shed is the latest proposal to solve these difficulties. But the product still appears to be unstable.
• Conveyor issues
• Lighting, noise and traffic issues
• The plant has breached its air quality consent with coal dust
•  It now needs a new consent to increase its water intake from the current consent of 58,000 litres a day to a massive 400,000 litres of water a day.
• The company claims the production process has passed a “five-day test” but locals, who’ve been watching closely, all dispute this. Maximum plant running time has been three days – at most.
• The facility has been dormant for six weeks.

The plant has so far cost $28m.

“Both Solid Energy and GTL must walk away from this untried and clearly failing technology. GTL are desperate to keep this going, but they are dreaming; the world’s awash with cheap coal that nobody wants. Lignite is a dead loss,” said Ms Penwarden.

She also noted that GTLE had been suffering from financial problems and there are rumours that its North Dakota briquetting plant had closed and would be sold.

“The reality on the ground in Mataura bears no resemblance to GTL Energy’s glowing reports on their website. Is GTLE deliberately misleading investors?”

“The world doesn’t need the climate emissions from this coal. Return the land to what it’s good for: fertile, productive farmland. And Southland doesn’t need any more failed projects from dodgy coal companies promising the earth and producing nothing but problems for the locals.”

Recent reports of Solid Energy announcement and discussions:

18 June, Stuff: Cloud hangs over lignite plant
18 June, Radio NZ: Solid Energy to make announcement about lignite plant
19 June, Southland Times: Decision on plant’s future delayed

The post Solid Energy appears locked in combat over who should pay for lignite plant appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

But it hasn’t gone entirely. Other companies are sniffing around Southland’s lignite report, and as a recent Southland Times report indicates, Solid Energy and their technology partner GTL Energy are continuing their efforts to get the small lignite briquetting plant off the ground.

In addition, sharemarket deadbeats Bathurst Resources, whom you’ll be hearing plenty more about this year – best known for their plans to despoil the beautiful and biodiverse Denniston Plateau in the pursuit of coal – are also seeking to expand their operations in Southland.

Every month, Coal Action Murihiku puts out a superb newsletter, edited by Jane Young who is also one of our CoalSwarm editors. You can read all the CAM newsletter on the Regions section of our website.

CAM’s April newsletter tackles both Bathurst and the briquetting plant. It’s a great read, and you can download the newsletter here.

The post Coal Action Murihiku Takes On Briquettes and Bathurst In Its April Newsletter appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

I was making mid-morning toast and coffee while listening to Kathryn Ryan’s National radio interview with Mark Ford, new Chair of Solid Energy. When he mumbled that yes, Southland lignite was one of the non-core assets Solid Energy would exit, I almost dropped the black currant jam.

Mr Ford’s quiet tone made me wonder if I’d heard correctly. It must not be easy to admit that you’re going to have to cut your losses after your company made a monumental business balls-up, buying up a whole valley, dispersing the community of farmers who lived and worked there for generations, wasting $29 million of taxpayer money on the likes of a briquette plant that uses dirty lignite.

But, he did say it, and it is great news for our campaign. It’s all about CO2, and Solid’s plans would have contributed to the approximately 8.9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from the 6 billion tonnes of economically recoverable lignite in Southland. CANA intends to stop this insanity and give the future a fighting chance.

Lignite and briquettes

In the same radio interview Geoff Bertram from Victoria University said the cyclical downturn in coal was easy to spot a year ago. Solid Energy’s lignite champion and now ex CEO Don Elder didn’t spot it, nor did his cheerleaders in Government. During that year, they egged him on while the briquette plant on Craig Road, Mataura turned from this…

into this

…still no briquettes, more than half a year behind schedule, and now dropped, like a ton of hot coals.

This plant wasn’t just Solid Energy’s baby; it’s also the flagship project of Australian company GTL Energy, whose new, unproven technology the plant showcases. GTL’s 2012 annual report is full of high hopes for their world-first commercial coal ‘beneficiation’ plant.

“When achieved, completion of the Solid Energy New Zealand plant will be a significant milestone.” (GTLE annual report to June 2012)

GTL’s dream is to ‘improve’ the quality of the world’s junk lignite/brown coal, from Southland, NZ to USA, Australia, and Indonesia – for starters – giving owners of junk coal a means by which to palatably market this stuff as

DRYER, LIGHTER, CLEANER, MORE CONVENIENT BRIQUETTES!!

and hey, there’s money to be made, right?

Wrong. Firstly, coal, in whatever form, is an unacceptable fuel for a CO2-choked twenty first century. Second, coal is not the place to put your money these days. Even the most optimistic investors know the volatility of coal prices and must realise they are very soon going to have to pay the true cost of its environmental damage.

The coal industry has a problem; it’s their product. Coal is the planet’s tobacco; a deadly addiction, and the more record heat waves, droughts and floods planet Earth throws our way the more people understand the connection and are calling for its phaseout.

However, it was not a surprise to hear that three months ago GTL formed a ‘wholly owned NZ subsidiary company, GTLE Development Ltd’, and have taken over the Craig Rd briquette plant for the next three and a half years. They have far too much to lose, financially and credibly, to let this baby go.

But that does not solve the briquette plant’s main problem: who’s going to buy them? Briquettes, anyone? If coal is your thing, you can get the same quality heat from the plain old sub bituminous stuff down the road at Nightcaps. Even Fonterra, the coal salesman’s dream buyer, prefer the Nightcaps coal to stoke their boilers.

Clean coal? Yeah right

The third reason why GTL are on to a loser is simple mathematics. Energy analyst Steve Goldthorpe has calculated that the process of digging up the lignite, transporting, squeezing out the water and making the briquettes emits 10 % more CO2 than if they had simply burned the lignite in the first place.

As long as the Mataura briquetting plant exists we will oppose it – and the expansion of this technology.  Energy expert Steve Goldthorpe explains why here:

CANA and Workers

On a tour of Stockton in last May we were told that the high turnover of workers has led to a younger and more inexperienced workforce than desirable in such a dangerous industry. “We are the training ground for Aussie” said one worker we spoke to.  Worker dissatisfaction is nicely portrayed in this lovely poster in the onsite smoko room:

Who can blame them? Rumours were rife of a management push to change shift hours that would mean lower take home pay for them, while Don Elder’s CEO salary sat at $1.4 million. And sure enough, the moment coal prices dipped, Stockton workers were faced with the threat of job losses or a change in shift. A year later, they are again being squeezed. In his National radio interview Mark Ford said that while he couldn’t comment on job losses at Stockton “there needs to be different work patterns there to extract that optimal coal production”.

CANA has never advocated the closure of working coal mines. That’s why we supported Spring Creek miners when job losses were announced. We want a just transition out of the industry by 2027, by which time we have calculated that current mining permits will have expired and current mines worked out.

We do not presume to know how coal mining towns should achieve this transition. But it has to happen. While we stand in solidarity with workers against profit-hungry companies, we ask: would you work for the tobacco industry? Coal was once an important industry, and mining towns have a rich history that must be preserved, but we now know its destructive effect on the future. It is morally wrong to keep mining coal, knowing what we do. Coal is worse than tobacco. It’s time for an exit strategy, starting now.

The industry line is that we still need coal for steelmaking, so West Coast coking coal will always be required. They are wrong. New technologies mean steel can be made without coal and CANA will soon be releasing our latest report into the benefits and pitfalls of this. Steel recycling, which produces a fraction of the carbon footprint of new steel production, can be considerably stepped up. Many of steel’s current uses are wasteful and can be replaced with lower carbon alternatives.

Stockton is NZ’s second biggest user of diesel. A steady withdrawal from Stockton will save us 55-60,000 litres/day of imported diesel. The money saved, and some of the fuel, should be contributing to new sustainable industries for the Coast.

Miners pride themselves on their hard working culture, bravery and stoicism. While coal must be relegated to history, those cultural traits are what’s required in the years to come as we move out of a fossil fuel charged economy and towards stabilising an out of control climate. What’s the use of profits with no planet left to spend them on?

CANA and Solid Energy

Solid Energy’s situation from a CANA perspective is clear. They are in the climate destruction business. There is no future for coal. Solid Energy must work towards phasing it out. Any other option is unacceptable.

Now is our window of opportunity. We can thank Don Elder for his contribution to our campaign with his over-exuberant ambitions on the lignite front. They got in the way of common sense, and the fortunate outcome is Solid’s new boss deciding to leave the Mataura valley coal in the hole.

A 2027 phaseout gives companies and the government time to exit the industry in a socially responsible way. True, socially responsible is something the industry likes to keep for their glossy websites, but maybe even coal company bosses can learn new tricks.

Then again, maybe not. Solid Energy’s recent announcement that they are seeking permission to investigate open cast mining at Pike River looks as though, even without Don, rote behavioural over-ambitious thinking threatens to lead them down the same debt- ridden track all over again.

No Bailout

To Solid Energy: your future is clear. Our call to you is to transition out of coal in a fair and sustainable way, starting right now.

To the Government: don’t bail-out Solid Energy to the tune of $389m (and growing) of our money. Don’t sell it to overseas interests. The bailout money should be used instead for the transition to new industry and new jobs away from coal, towards the future. Because coal has no future.

Lignite is dead – and coal is not far behind.

The post Solid Energy and coal’s future? What future? appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Gee, that’s a surprise, Mr Prime Minister! Because here’s what you said on 3 June 2011:

“Speaking in Invercargill yesterday, Mr Key said he supported Solid Energy’s plan to dig up lignite and turn it into briquettes, saying the Government wanted companies such as Solid Energy, which is Government-owned, to expand.” (PM backs mining south’s lignite, Southland Times)

And here is a picture from the National Party’s own photo stream of John Key’s deputy, Bill English, turning the first sod for Solid Energy’s pilot lignite briquetting plant – a plant which now lies useless in the middle of the Mataura Valley:

Don Elder and Bill English: So happy together

Isn’t it nice the way Don lets Bill take the lead? Isn’t it nice the way they both smile for the camera? Isn’t it a pity how rats fight to be first to leave the sinking ship?

The post Solid Energy and the National Government: So Happy Together appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Our goal of coal staying in the hole: achieved!

Press release

22 February 2013—The Coal Action Network Aotearoa is celebrating the end of the nonsensical lignite project plans in Southland, after Solid Energy Chairman Mark Ford confirmed on national radio this morning that the company will drop the project.

When asked on radio about the lignite projects, Mr Ford said: “I think that is part of the non-core assets that we will be exiting from.”

“This was a ridiculous project from the outset: dirty, low-grade coal being turned into a product nobody wanted, digging up prime Southland farmland for coal that would simply end up in the sky, adding to the looming climate crisis,” said Kristin Gillies, CANA spokesperson.

“The people of Southland, just as the people of the West Coast and Huntly, have been sold broken promises by an industry that will do nothing for our economic future. Coal is a sunset industry and we need to wake up to this reality.”

Co-spokesperson for Coal Action Murihiku, Dave Kennedy, said there would be a huge sigh of relief from the growing local opposition to the project, which had so far only produced six local jobs, and would be taking the region in the wrong direction.

“Southland has so much to offer a green future for New Zealand, and we’re very happy that the coal here will be left where it belongs – in the hole, and the fertile soil can continue to be productive for generations to come.”

It is also highly doubtful that the briquetting plant in Mataura will be able to be sold: it has suffered a number of problems, has yet to be commissioned, and there is no market for the briquettes.

CANA also pointed out today that it was wrong for people to put Solid Energy’s financial woes down to its investments in renewable projects.

Renewable investments were tiny compared to the other things that lost Solid money. P45 of the 2012 annual report discusses “impairments” (the reduction in capital value of parts of the business – similar to a write down?)

– Biodiesel resulted in an impairment of $9m;
– Natures Flame $24.5m, Switch $1.6m.
– total renewable impairment $36m.

Meanwhile:
– Spring Creek resulted in an impairment of $64.3m,
– Huntly coal seam gas $18.5m,
– Huntly East $33.5m,
– they wasted $29m on the Southland lignite briquetting plant that may never work and may never have markets, though this is not marked as impaired in the accounts.

Even without the lignite projects (and the Annual Report notes impairment and loss from the whole Iignite project) total coal impairment is ~$116m, 3.5 x that of the renewable losses.
“To blame renewable energy for Solid’s woes simply doesn’t stand up,” said Gillies.
Solid bought 49% of the shares in Spring Creek as recently as Feb 2012, closed it temporarily to upgrade the mine, then closed it permanently later in the year. They spent a capital outlay of $64m – and they never got any coal out of it.

The failure of the renewable energy plants can be laid at the door of the govt. The investments were made under the Labour govt when there was a biofuel obligation coming on all motor fuel sales; this was then replaced by National’s subsidy, then that was cancelled.

Coal and gas would have been more expensive under the 2008 ETS and there would have been a better market for pellets. The company also made the mistake of going for the export market for pellets when they could have developed a good market in NZ.

The post Coal Action Network cheering at news that Southland coal will be left in the hole appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.