Predicted Impacts on Energy and Greenhouse Gases in Hunter Valley Coal Mining Environmental Impact Statements

Abstract

This article examines the way in which energy and greenhouse issues were considered in 68 environmental impact statements (EISs) prepared between 1974 and 1997 for 29 coal mining projects in the Hunter Valley of NSW. The coal industry and associated electricity generation produce about half of Australian production of greenhouse gases and much larger greenhouse emissions result from coal exported to other countries. The EISs indicate that the combined greenhouse emissions from all 29 operating and proposed mines in the Hunter Valley could represent between 1.0 per cent and 1.5 per cent of annual global carbon emissions due to world wide use of fossil fuels. Despite the scale of coal mining the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process for coal mining proposals has given negligible consideration to the important environmental issues of energy and greenhouse. Energy issues associated with coal mining were documented from 1980 to 1994 as a result of government regulation. Greenhouse issues were first documented in 1995 and assessments have only been undertaken in a very small number of cases. Typically environmental assessments argue that production from individual mining proposals is inconsequential in comparison with national and global emissions and is therefore not relevant to the environmental assessment of the proposal. Assessment of the greenhouse impacts of coal in EISs focuses almost totally on coal consumption and not on gases emitted in the process of production or transport whereas energy assessments focus on energy used in coal mining not in consumption or transport. The article demonstrates the difficulty of implementing global and national environmental policies in individual development proposals and shows the inadequacy of current EISs in addressing key environmental issues. The environmental impact assessment process should nevertheless be recognised as a tool for implementing greenhouse gas reduction objectives. Positive recommendations are made for improving the consideration of greenhouse and energy issues in EISs.