Brown coal: Victoria's vital resource

Abstract

In relation to the rest of the developed world, Australia is particularly well endowed with energy resources. In the state of Victoria, these resources are principally in the form of 200,000 million tonnes (Mt) of brown coal—located mainly in the Latrobe Valley region of Central Gippsland. This resource is among the largest and most accessible in the world and represents 95% of Victoria's non-renewable energy reserves. Brown coal-fired thermal power stations provide the bulk of Victoria's electrical energy requirements, and dried brown coal compressed into “briquettes” is used as domestic and industrial fuel and for the manufacture of high-purity char. A major pilot project for liquefaction of brown coal has commenced operation in the Latrobe Valley, and potential exists for the development of industries to manufacture a range of high-value carbon products. Brown coal could also provide the feedstock for substitute natural gas production when Victoria's present reserves of natural gas are depleted.