Coal and lead’s green credentials
Two recent conferences held in Australia highlight the genuine efforts being made by the mining industry to play a leading role in the green revolution.
Here I’m not referring to efforts at individual mine sites, but at the level of commodity use.
It is well that people in the industry are aware of these efforts.
According to the Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development (CCSD) a “new coal” has emerged from the push reduce global warming.
The CCSD said that far from being an “industrial dinosaur”, coal had become one of the most versatile and imaginative commodities.
Industry players and scientists meeting in Brisbane recently were told that coal producers, power companies and researchers who once worked in isolation were now forming worldwide partnerships to share ideas and design cleaner power solutions.
For example, the CCSD’s Dr Peter Hayes told the gathering that fundamental research in modelling ash and slag flow would help assess coal performance in the new generation gasifiers. He said ash removal was vital for efficient gasifier operation and the new model would let operators predict how different coals and blends would perform.
Another CCSD scientist, Alex Elliott said coal ash could soon be used as a slow-release fertiliser for agricultural and in doing so reduce the nutrient pollution of Australia’s rivers. He said zeolites tailored from fly ash might find a valuable use as carriers for essential plant nutrients, releasing them into the soil as the plants need them.
Of course, not all coal should be tarred with the same brush in any case. Wesfarmers Premier Coal in Western Australia, for instance, already produces a low ash, low sulphur black coal for power generation (see story page 12), although this has not stopped gas from swiping coal’s market share in WA.
From green coal to green lead.
Speaking recently at a Minerals Council conference, Global Lead Advice and Support Service manager Elizabeth O’Brien said the idea of green lead consisted of safely recycling all the lead produced each year with zero harm to humanity and the environment.
O’Brien called on the lead mining industry to ensure that no Australian lead found its way into the leaded petrol still being sold around the world. She said it was essential to ensure that all used lead was recycled properly by eliminating dispersive non-recoverable uses.
O’Brien called on the Australian lead mining industry, the world’s largest lead exporter, to play its part in raising awareness of lead management.
Continuing sponsorship of these efforts makes good environmental and commercial sense for Australia’s mining industry.
FRANK NOAKES
EDITOR
6-Dec-2005