Today, hapuu, and community and environment groups are tentatively celebrating news that Bathurst Resources is finding it difficult to find a market for the coal from a proposed extension of its its Rotowaro coal mine in North Waikato, and may no longer be applying for Fast-Track approval for the extension.

BT Mining (a Bathurst Resources and Talley’s joint company) told a recent Genesis Energy community meeting that market conditions are no longer favourable for a coal mine extension.

This is because its main customer, the Glenbrook steel mill, is set to halve its coal use once it has fully commissioned its new Electric Arc Furnace, which will focus on recycling steel rather than making new steel with coal. Genesis is moving to burn biomass instead of coal at Huntly, and other major local coal user Fonterra is switching its Te Awamutu dairy factory away from coal.   [See RNZ story 28 May]

Local and national groups oppose the mine extension, including a rangatahi Māori-led climate justice group from Kirikiriroa, Ngaa Haumi, who have collected 1214 signatures on an open letter to the Fast Track panel to highlight the importance of Te Tiriti and community opposition to the new mine.

“Coal mining disturbs the mauri that binds together all living things by destabilising the balance of carbon, the foundation of all life, between Ranginui and Papatūānuku. That is why we are hopeful  today that there will be a discontinuation of the Rotowaro operations, along with movements towards a just transition, which would help us move closer to protecting the wellbeing of whenua and wai for future generations,” said Hannah Huggan of Ngaa Haumi. 

Other groups campaigning against the mine extension are Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Forest & Bird and 350.

“It is clear that coal is on the way out for industry in Aotearoa, and that more modern, low-carbon technology designed to reduce emissions is the future for this country, not dirty coalmines,” said spokesperson for Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Cindy Baxter.

Glenbrook’s new Electric Arc Furnace was supported by the last Labour government under its Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund, which was designed to target emission reductions. The fund also contributed to Fonterra getting out of burning coal, and it has been converting its Te Awamutu dairy factory to biomass, whereas it was previously taking coal from Bathurst. The fund was dropped by the current government.

“That Bathurst is finding the market for coal difficult demonstrates that strong policies to support the decarbonising of industry do work, and the decisions to support Glenbrook and Fonterra out of coal are doing what it says on the packet; putting a question mark over a dirty new coal mine,” said Baxter.

The project would have extended the life of the Rotowaro mine in Huntly for a minimum of 19 years, which would enable the company to mine an additional 6.64 million tonnes of coal.

“If Bathurst decides against the mine, this will stop around 14.5 million tonnes of polluting carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere. It’s good for the climate, and for the country,” said Baxter.

“Policies that mitigate climate change and support decarbonising New Zealand’s industry helps protect our vulnerable wildlife. Stopping the expansion of this mine has saved habitat for our wildlife and reduced the amount of carbon released. Anything we can do to reduce the acceleration of severe climate events can save habitats,” says Elvisa van der Leden, Forest & Bird.

“The best choice now is to take further steps towards a just transition, led by tikanga, mana whenua, and the affected community. It is essential to move away from fossil fuels in a way that ensures people thrive, where workers are respected, supported and protected from last-minute job losses. There is more work to be done,” says Ngaa Haumi.

The post Bathurst may scrap Rotowaro mine expansion as industry cuts coal use; renewed calls for a just transition appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Instead, residential consumers have been forced to subsidise commercial and industrial customers who have the financial, analytical and legal resources to pressure the electricity sector to keep their prices down.

On the supply side, the sector’s profits have increased substantially, largely due to their ability to manipulate the “marginal cost” pricing system – see the graph below:

In effect, New Zealanders have swapped a low cost, public-service electricity system for a wide “choice” of high-cost suppliers, each of whom seeks to maximise shareholder profits by manipulating the market at our – and the environment’s – expense. Here’s just one example.

Victoria University economist Dr. Geoff Bertram has written about this previously here and here, and, now retired, recently gave a highly informative slide presentation to the group Engineers for Social Responsibility.

Dr. Bertram explains how the Tiwai smelter and Huntly power station are used to keep power prices high, and concludes with ways to reform the electricity sector to create a fairer, more equitable market for this essential commodity.

A Youtube video of his talk, including questions at the end, can be found here.

NB: For those new to the topic, here’s a useful overview of the history and structure of New Zealand’s electricity sector.

The post The Great New Zealand Electricity Scam appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

9 July 2020–The announced closure of Tiwai Point is welcome news for the clean energy future of New Zealand, and presents huge opportunities in areas such as electrifying transport and developing new, high-tech industries, Coal Action Network Aotearoa said today.

Provided this is not a negotiating tactic, Tiwai’s shutdown should see the closing of the country’s only coal-fired power station at Huntly, which Meridian persuaded Genesis to keep it open as part of the deal it did with Rio Tinto in 2016.

Will this be the end of the Huntly coal-fired power station?

“We now have a massive opportunity to look at where and how we will use the renewable energy that will be freed up: we could electrify the South Island’s rail network, and make huge steps toward electric transport,” said CANA’s Rosemary Penwarden.

Once the smelter is closed, New Zealand’s emissions will drop by upwards of 1.5 million tonnes a year, emissions the taxpayer has been subsidising NZ Aluminium Smelters for.
“At today’s carbon price of $33, the 1.3 million units the company received for free last year would this year cost the taxpayer $42.9 million: we trust the government will use this huge saving to work toward meeting our zero carbon goal,” said Penwarden.

CANA warned against big process heat users like Fonterra converting to electricity for its South Island coal boilers as using electricity this way is massively inefficient, and Fonterra needed to be looking to biomass to switch to.

“We don’t want to lock ourselves into a system that would require new thermal electricity – like the gas-fired power stations being built right now in Taranaki. These should stop,” said Penwarden.

“Today, there are going to be a lot of Southland families wondering about their futures. It’s crucial the Government provides support to Southlanders to transition towards a resilient low-carbon economy. Great South has already been doing a lot of work transitioning away from fossil fuels, and creating jobs in renewables. This experience will stand them in good stead to deal with this new challenge.”

CANA also warned that the Government must make NZ Aluminium / Rio Tinto fully pay for the clean-up of the site and ensure there was full remediation, not least because the plant is right next to an internationally-recognised conservation site.

“We have already seen part of Rio Tinto’s toxic legacy being nearly swept away in the Mataura floods, and the taxpayer is being forced to pay.  There is an unfortunate recent history of toxic remediation being left to the government to pay for, and we absolutely cannot let this happen here,” she said.

“Rio Tinto has a very poor international reputation as a good environmental citizen, and we must hold them to account to exit cleanly.”

The post The end of Tiwai Point could open huge opportunities for NZ appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.