The Energy System of Australia

Photo – Keeper Reef on the Once-Great Barrier Reef, Australia.¹

This page profiles the energy system of Australia using freely available data from the IEA² and the method described in this site’s introduction. Australia’s energy supply is profiled first, followed by energy consumption and finally Australia’s fossil fuel exports.

Being a resource-cursed nation, Australia’s national energy system is almost entirely fossil fuelled, and fossil fuel exports underpin its economic wellbeing. It will be shown here that the Australian energy system is 90% fossil fuelled and its economy incorporates a massive carbon-bubble, with about 40% of export value in 2017 – 18 from fossil fuels and iron ore (which is used to manufacture steel in a process that burns coal). This is expected to grow to about 50%.

Australia’s Energy Supply

Australia’s energy supply consists of astounding shares of domestic coal and gas, as well as a large share of imported oil-products (i.e. petrol, diesel and aviation fuels). In 2016 Australia’s energy supply was almost solely fossil fuelled; a product of successive shameless governments, elected by an indifferent society vacuously immersed in oil consumption.

Australia’s energy supply is shown below in chart 1 and 2. Marvel at the size of the contributions from renewable energy –

Charts 1 and 2 above suggest the energy supplied by solar PV is much lower than is commonly perceived. The solar PV industry pushes its wares, and has no interest in explaining the scale and rate of change necessary for a safe climate⁴. Nor does any level of Australian government, so customers are left with a sense of ‘having done their bit for the climate’ and installing solar PV is implicitly considered ‘climate action’. As quoted in Climate Part 3 on this site, “winning slowly is the same as losing”. The solar PV industry exists to make a buck, not to make our climate safe. It’s simply just more commerce. To make matters worse are the problems described below, leaving one wondering what has been the net-impact of residential-solar PV?

According to the Sunny Side Up report from the Consumer Action Law Centre, close to 700 solar companies have gone out of business since 2011, leaving about 650,000 Australians with no recourse if their systems fail.

It found there were a number of “concerning trends” in the solar industry, including:

• “Predatory” high-pressure sales tactics

• Businesses going under, leaving people with worthless warranties and no recourse

• Australians being offered unaffordable credit to buy solar systems

Solar customers falling victim to predatory tactics in unregulated industry, advocates warn.⁵

and –

As new solar installers flood the market, so do the number of panels heading to the landfill.

Solar panels are meant to last for about a quarter of a century, but the first wave of solar panels are reaching the end of their life, or failing because of wear and tear.

Most solar panels are destined for landfill but a small company near Adelaide is leading the way in recycling them and it is barely keeping up with demand.

Solar customers falling victim to predatory tactics in unregulated industry, advocates warn.⁵

Chart 3 shows Australia’s energy supply, by share over time. This was 94% fossil fuelled in 2009 and amazingly still just over 90% in 2016. For comparison, the world reached a maximum of 79% during 2000–2010, since dropping to 77% in 2016.⁶ Obviously for the share of renewable energy to replace that of fossil fuels in chart 3, radical social transformation would be required.

Chart 4 shows Australia’s energy supply in 2016 –

Or simply: fossil fuels 90%, solar PV 1%, wind 2%, hydro 3% and biofuels and waste 4% –

As was the case for China’s energy profile,⁷ there are simple explanations for chart 5. In the case of Australia: stupidity, laziness, ignorance and hubris. These forms of behaviour were able to flourish in Australia because it’s a nation cursed by abundant natural resources. It irresponsibly chose the simplest option: to consume (and export) its coal and gas.

Australia’s CO₂ emissions have steadily risen despite ‘climate negotiations’ –

Values for each energy supply during the most recent 5 year period of the data are shown in table 1 below. The share of non-hydro renewables remained negligible at 3.4% as shown by table (b), and worryingly there was no nuclear energy supply. The righthand columns of (a) show non-hydro renewables increased by about the same amount as fossil fuels, but the supply of fossil fuels was much larger; in 2016 almost 27 times larger than that of non-hydro renewables (i.e. 5,082PJ / 191.89PJ). Australia’s solar PV supply increased by 1.7 times but reached a share of only 1% in 2016, shown in table (b). Table (d) shows fossil fuels supplied 90.7% of the cumulative energy in Australia between 2012 and 2016, solar 1% and wind 1.7%. Table (e) shows solar supplied one one-hundredth of cumulative energy from 2012 to 2016, and wind two one-hundredths.

Table 2(b) below shows the share of fossil fuels in 1990 was 91.6%, and in 2016 90.2%. The rate of increase of non-hydro renewables (as shown in the right hand most column of (a)) was very rapid, but as stated above, grew to have only a 3.4% share in 2016.

A measure of decarbonisation is the carbon intensity of total primary energy supply, which is a measure of the quantity of carbon emitted for every unit of energy (i.e. Joule) supplied by the entire energy system. Chart 7 shows that in 2016 Australia’s energy supply was more carbon intensive (‘dirtier’) than China’s,⁹ and the world’s as a whole.¹⁰ Behold modern Australia –

Australia’s Energy Consumption

As shown in figure 1 of the introduction, the forms and quantities of energy we consume (known as ‘total final consumption’ or TFC) differ from that which is supplied. For example, some energy supplied by coal is converted and consumed as electricity, and the rest is instead combusted and consumed in industrial applications (e.g. steel manufacture) and domestic applications (e.g. cooking). The calculation of total final consumption allows us to profile how economies annually utilise the energy supplied. (For clarity, forms of energy with zero value have been excluded from the following charts).

Australia’s total final consumption for year 2016 is shown below in charts 8 and 9. Just over half was consumed as oil and oil products, just over 20% as electricity and just under 20% as gas. Of the electricity generated, 64% was coal fired (almost as great a share as China at 68%), gas was 20%, wind 5% and solar PV 2.5%. Australia, China and the world as a whole, all consume 20% of energy as electricity, highlighting that decarbonisation is not only ‘cleaning up’ existing electricity generation, but also massively and rapidly increasing its share of energy consumption.

Chart 10 shows Australia’s total final consumption over 1990 to 2016. Growth of electrification slowed, as did direct consumption of gas. This was due to reduced consumption by industry as shown below, plausibly due to a shift of manufacturing to China. Consumption of oil consistently increased.

The following charts show the absolute energy consumption by each economic sector, and to give these context, the share of consumption by each sector is shown below –

Chart 15 shows electricity generation over time. Coal utterly dominated and gas grew rapidly. Hydro remained roughly constant, wind increased to claw its way from obscurity. The remainder were negligible.

In 2016 Australia had 23 operating coal fired power stations, with a combined capacity of 25GW.^{14 15} Based on announced closures and the expectation of a 50 year operating life, as specified by Transgrid,¹⁶ all but Bluewaters 1 and 2 power stations in WA are expected to close prior to 2052 – that amounts to 98% of coal power generation capacity, which in 2016 was 64% of electricity generation.^{14 15 17}

Australia’s Fossil Fuel Exports

Although the UN’s climate treaty accounts for carbon emitted from fossil fuel exports within the country of the fuel’s consumption, Australia bears the moral responsibility for placing fossil fuels on the international market. This is the same manner in which a meth-cook is responsible for supplying a market: both result in short-term gain, long-term ruin, because as long as fossil fuels are sold, they will be burned. Shown here is that Australia’s fossil fuel energy exports as a share of national export value, and on a global scale, are massive and amount to a carbon-bubble. The quality of Australian healthcare, education, defence and infrastructure is maintained by income from these exports. The voting population prospers and votes for more, while ignoring that their prosperity was stolen from young Australians. If carbon is ever priced adequately to make fossil fuel exports uneconomic, Australia’s carbon-bubble will explode. Either way now, young Australians lose.

Does the Australian government participate in international climate neogtiations with an aim to prevent climate catastrophe, or to secure the economic value of its fossil fuel exports?

Iron ore held largest share of total Australian exports of goods and services during 2017 – 18, amounting to 15.2%.¹⁹ 98% of iron ore worldwide is used to manufacture steel. Steel is manufactured by burning coke and iron ore in a blast furnace. Coke, which is almost pure carbon, is produced by heating metallurgical coal. There is currently no commercial-scale substitute for metallurgical coal in steel making. The value of Australia’s iron ore exports is fundamentally dependant on consumption of coal, and so contributes to the size of Australia’s carbon bubble. The CO₂ emissions from the manufacture of steel per unit of coal range from about the same to double that from a coal fired power plant.^{20 21 22 23 24}

Coal was Australia’s second largest export at 15% share, liquified natural gas (LNG) 7.7% and crude oil 1.6%.¹⁹ LNG is predominately methane that is liquified by cooling to -162℃, thereby compressing it and making it economic to export in specifically designed and built tankers.²⁵ (Natural gas piped domestically is also mostly methane but not liquified.²⁶ LPG (liquid petroleum gas) is predominantly propane or butane.²⁷)

The share of iron ore and fossil fuels was 39.5% of total export value,²⁸ and fossil fuels alone 24.3% (about a quarter). This carbon bubble is only being blown larger by Australian governments, as shown by the chart below of contracted gas exports to year 2022. Australia has become the world’s largest exporter of LNG,²⁹ and LNG’s share is expected to at least double and therefore rival coal and iron ore as Australia’s largest exports. The consequence of this would be to increase the share of fossil fuel exports from about a quarter to about a third of total annual export value (i.e. 15% + 1.6% + 7.7% × 2 = 32%), and the total of iron ore and fossil fuels to then be about half, assuming the share of other exports is maintained. Australia is quite the carbon bubble – a nation with an energy supply 90% fossil fuelled and 40% of export value from fossil fuels and iron ore, soon to be 50%.

In 2016, $AUD124.2 million was spent on coal exploration within Australia.³¹ and $AUD1.4 billion was spent on oil and gas exploration.³²

The Australian federal government’s priorities are blatant and contradictory to the interests of young Australians –

The outlook for the Australian resources sector is bright.
By 2030, Asia will produce more than half of the world’s economic output; consume 40 per cent of its energy; and be home to a middle class of almost 3.5 billion people.((https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-resources-statement/the-australian-resources-sector-significance-and-opportunities)) By virtue of our geographic location, abundant reserves of resources, skilled workforce and strong mining services sector, Australia is well positioned to be a key supplier for the region. 

Demand will increase in both traditional commodities, such as coal, iron ore, liquefied natural gas (LNG), base metals, such as copper and nickel, and emerging minerals, like lithium and rare earths which have many applications for the digital age (Table 1).

The Australian resources sector – significance and opportunities, published by the Australian federal government in 2019³⁵

The development of the east coast coal seam gas (CSG) industry is a recent example of the development of a new national wealth centre. The development of the CSG industry in Queensland led to more than $60 billion being invested in three new LNG export projects at Gladstone over the last decade—conservatively equivalent to 20 – 25 per cent of the Queensland economy around the time the projects were commissioned.³⁵

There are several areas where this is again possible, including:

• The Beetaloo Sub-basin in the Northern Territory which has a world-class shale gas resources and is home to more than three quarters of Northern Territory’s perspective shale gas resources.

• The Galilee Basin in Queensland which has more than 29 billion tonnes of coal reserves identified following a boom in greenfield exploration. The Galilee Basin could also contain significant reserves of gas. 

• The Great Australian Bight which is one of Australia’s largest frontier basins and could have enormous oil and gas potential.

• The Canning and Browse Basins which hold immense oil and gas potential. 

The Australian resources sector – significance and opportunities, published by the Australian federal government in 2019³⁵

Australia’s vast current gas and coal exports, and anticipated expansions of these, are detailed at the bottom of this page.

Discussion

Australia’s energy system in 2016 was 90% fossil fuelled, and the share of fossil fuel and iron ore exports in 2018 totalled 40%. Australia has become the world’s largest LNG exporter, the largest metallurgical coal exporter, and the second largest thermal coal exporter. Expansion of fossil fuel extraction is underway and the Australian federal government is vehemently promoting and supporting further extraction of prodigious scale.³⁶ About two thirds of domestic electricity generation will need to be replaced over the next 30 years, for which there is no plan and Australian emissions continue to grow despite extensive death of the Great Barrier Reef and clear scientific projections of further devastation.

What proportion of voting Australians are aware of the fossil fuel exports described here, and what proportion feel responsible for the consequences to be faced by their children and grandchildren?

Australia was founded on misery, as a penal colony,³⁷ and successive Australian federal governments have conducting themselves in a miserable manner preventing the reduction of emissions, and not telling the truth to the Australian people. Future misery has now been sown by Australia’s fossil fuel exports, so aggressively promoted that the country now leads the world in coal, gas and iron ore exports. But this isn’t enough – the federal government is promoting more. What is this place?

Australia’s Current Gas Exports

The astonishing scale of major Australian gas extraction and export projects are detailed below –

Gorgon LNG⁴⁰

Largest single resource project in Australia’s history, costing $US54 billion³⁹ and producing 15Mtpa (millions of tonnes per annum) of gas (6% of 2015 global trade⁴¹). 40 year lifespan and began operating in 2016. Consists of a subsea gas gathering system, onshore LNG plant site, buildings and services, and an offloading jetty.
Gas is extracted from 18 offshore wells using a subsea gas gathering system, instead of offshore platforms. Drilling of the wells was done at depths of over 9km (6mi) beneath the seabed. More then 800km (500mi) of pipeline is laid offshore and onshore. The subsea installation is on the largest in the world with more than 250,000 tons of steel pipe and structures, equalling the weight of three aircraft carriers. The pipe is so strong that it can span 270m (300 yds) unsupported.
The LNG plant site, service buildings and jetty are located on Barrow Island, classified a “Class A” nature reserve with 378 species of native plants, 13 species of mammals and 43 species of reptiles. Here gas is either converted to LNG and offloaded to tankers for export, or supplied to the domestic market.
The jetty rests on 56 concrete caissons each weighing an average of 2,500 tonnes.⁴²
Liquefaction of the gas to compress it involves removing the CO₂ that makes up 14%, otherwise it would form a solid. The LNG plant site includes a CO₂ sequestration plant that’s used to greenwash the Gorgon project.
The amount of steel used in the LNG plant site is more than 4 times that used in the Sydney Harbour bridge. It contains 51 liquefaction modules, each heavier than 3,500 cars and relies on 584MW of power generated onsite from 5 gas turbine modules. These self contained power plants were manufactured in Italy by GE⁴³ and contain a gas turbine (manufactured in France), 10km (6mi) of structural welding, and 19km (12 mi) of electrical cable. Each gas turbine module weighs 2,300 tons, as much as 4 double-decker Airbus jets. These were loaded onto ships and transported 20,000km (12,000mi) to Barrow Island.
At least 1,558 native animals were killed during construction and classified as accidental deaths.⁴⁴
Gorgon is currently being expanded, spending $US4 billion drilling 11 new wells, expanding the subsea gas gathering system and pipeline.⁴⁵
Participants: Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and JERA.

The North West Shelf Project⁴⁶

Cost $US24 billion, produces 17Mtpa for international and Australian domestic markets.
Consists of: (a) Onshore Karratha Gas Plant that compresses gas and offloads LNG to export vessels; (b) North Rankin Complex that consists of North Rankin A and B offshore platforms, joined by two 100m (300ft) bridges; (c) Goodwyn A offshore platform, gas is piped from here over 100km (62mi) to the Karratha Gas Plant; (d) Angel offshore platform, connected to the North Rankin Complex via 50km (31mi) subsea pipeline. Not normally manned and instead operated remotely from the Rankin Complex; and (e) Okha floating oil production vessel, moored and connected to a riser turret which is connected to flexible flow lines from three seabed oil fields. Crude oil is offloaded from the Okha vessel via a flexible line directly to bulk tankers, while a seabed pipeline exports LPG-rich gas to the North Rankin Complex, before being piped 135km (84mi) to the Karratha Gas Plant.
Participants: Woodside, BHP, BP, Chevron, Japan Australia LNG and Shell.

North West Shelf Expansion⁴⁷ is currently underway, aims to exploit six offshore hydrocarbon fields with 8 production wells tied back to Goodwyn A platform via 35km (22mi) long subsea pipeline. Budget was US$2 billion.

The Bayu-Undan⁴⁸

Commissioned in 2006, produces 3.7Mtpa and gas expected to be fully extracted by 2022. Located offshore in the Timor Sea. Australia has delayed to ratify an agreement with Timor Leste for sharing the profits from this gas field 90%/10% between Australia and Timor Leste respectively.⁴⁹
Gas is extracted and compressed in-situ before being piped to the mainland as LNG. Consists of: (a) two joined offshore platforms forming the Central Production and Processing (CPP) complex; (b) a floating storage and offloading facility 2km (1.2mi) from the CPP; (c) an unmanned wellhead platform 7km (4.4mi) from the CPP; (d) LNG production facility in Darwin (‘Darwin LNG’) that offloads the LNG onto tankers; and (e) a 500km (311mi) long subsea pipeline connecting the CPP to Darwin LNG.
Participants: ConocoPhillips, Santos, Inpex, ENI, Tokyo Timor Sea Resources, Tokyo Gas, Tokyo Electric and Chibu Electric.

The Barossa Project⁵⁰

Offshore from Darwin. Being built and will ensure continued operation of Darwin LNG once all gas has been extracted from Bayu-Undan.
Consists of: (a) floating gas extraction, production, storage and offloading vessel; (b) subsea gas gathering system; and (c) a 260km (162mi) subsea pipeline connecting the vessel to Darwin LNG.
Participants: ConocoPhillips, SK E&S Australia and Santos.

Curtis Island LNG⁵¹

Cost $US46 billion, produces 25.3Mtpa. Located on Curtis Island next to the Great Barrier Reef. Produces LNG from coal seam gas for export and the Australian domestic market.⁵²
Participants: Shell, China National Offshore Oil Corporation,Tokyo Gas, ConocoPhillips, Origin, Sinopec, Santos, Petronas, Total, and Kogas.

Pluto LNG⁵³

Cost $US11 billion and produces 4Mtpa. Consists of: (a) Onshore Pluto LNG Park gas compression and offloading facility; (b) Pluto-A offshore platform, not normally manned; (c) seabed gas pipeline connecting the two; and (d) Pluto Support Centre in Perth from where remote operations are controlled.
Participants: Woodside, Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas.

Wheatstone LNG⁵⁴

Cost $US24 billion and is forecast to produce 9Mtpa. Currently being built. Consists of an offshore platform, an onshore processing facility and subsea pipeline.
Participants: Woodside, Chevron, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, Kyushu Electric Power Company and PE Wheatstone.

Greater Enfield⁵⁵

Currently being expanded. The Ngujima-Yin floating gas extraction, production, storage and offloading vessel moored above the Vincent oilfield. Will also extract oil from two other oilfields using subsea pipelines 31km (19mi) long.
Participants: Woodside and Mitsui E&P Australia.

Prelude FLNG⁵⁶

Cost $US13 billion and will produce 3.5Mtpa. Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) is a ‘revolutionary’ technology that will allow Shell to access offshore gas fields that would otherwise be too costly or difficult to develop.Currently being commissioned.⁵⁷ 488m long and 74m wide making it the world’s largest FLNG platform. Has thrusters to ensure stability during offloading but no form of propulsion. Will extract gas from 7 wells and employ an onboard team of 120 to 140 people.
Participants: Shell, INPEX, KOGAS and OPIC.

Ichthys⁵⁸

Cost $US37 billion, over 90% complete and forecast to produce 9Mtpa of LNG, 1.6 Mt of LPG per annum and over 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak (various hydrocarbons).
Consists of: (a) Onshore processing and loading facilities near Darwin; (b) Central processing facility (CPF), which is the world’s largest semi-submersible platform; (c) nearby floating production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO) for offshore processing of condensate; and (d) 890km (550mi) long subsea pipeline to carry the gas to the shore. This consumed 700,000 tonnes of steel and 550,000 tonnes of concrete.
Participants: INPEX, Total, CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, JERA and Toho Gas.

Australia’s Current Coal Exports

Thermal coal is mainly used for generating electricity at coal power stations, and metallurgical coal is mainly used to make steel. Australia does not export any brown coal.

As stated above, coal was Australia’s second largest export earner at 15% of total. In 2017 Australia was the second largest exporter of thermal coal (Indonesia was the largest)⁵⁹ and the largest (by far) exporter of metallurgical coal and iron ore, each with a share of just over 50% of total global trade.^{60 61 62} This coal and ore is consumed by the countries shown below –

Australia’s coal mines are shown in the map below, with operating mines as grey circles, and developing mines as grey triangles. In 2017, Australia had 91 operating black coal mines.⁶⁴

The coal export industry is serviced by 10 coal terminals at six ports along the eastern coast of Australia. Port ownership is a combination of public and private interests.

A number of new coal terminal and expansion projects have been completed to increase capacity to approximately 600 million tonnes per annum to meet expected long-term global growth, particularly from China and India.

Minerals and Petroleum in Australia | A Guide for Investors published by the Australian federal government in 2017⁶⁶

Anticipated Expansions Of Australian Fossil Fuel Exports

Greater Poseidon⁶⁸

10 gas wells drilled 480km (298mi) offshore. Participants: ConocoPhillips, Origin Energy and PetroChina.

Athena⁶⁹

Gas field 130km (81mi) offshore. Participants: ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil.

Greater Sunrise⁷⁰

The maritime boundary between Timor-Leste and Australia intersects this gas field.
During negotiations with Timor-Leste, a whistleblower revealed the Australian government planted 200 covert listening devices in the Timor-Leste Cabinet Office at Dili. In 2018, a new agreement was signed that split profits 80% East Timor, 20% Australia. The Australian government filed criminal charges against the whistleblower and his lawyer. The whisteblower revealed the bugging operation in 2012 after learning Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had become an adviser to Woodside Petroleum, which was benefiting from the treaty. Alexander Downer stated the following about Timor-Leste: “I think they’ve made a very big mistake thinking that the best way to handle this negotiation is trying to shame Australia, is mounting abuse on our country…accusing us of being bullying and rich and so on, when you consider all we’ve done for East Timor.”^{71 72 73}
Participants: Woodside, Timor-Leste, Shell and Osaka Gas.

Barrup Hub⁷⁴

Proposal to join Pluto LNG and the North West Shelf project to form a massive LNG extraction, processing and offloading complex.

Crux⁷⁵

Shell Australia is proposing to develop the Crux gas field offshore. The design consists of a not-normally-manned platform with five wells. The facility will be connected to Prelude FLNG via a 165km (102mi) long export pipeline. A final investment decision on whether to proceed is anticipated in 2020. Crux is expected to have at least a 20-year lifespan.

Carmichael Coal Mine⁷⁶

Proposed thermal coal mine in the Galilee Basin, planned to be conducted by both open-cut and underground methods. The mine is proposed by Adani Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of India’s Adani Group. The development was initially intended to represent an $AU16.5 billion investment, however, after being refused financing by over 30 financial institutions, Adani announced in 2018 that the mining operation would be downsized and self-funded to $AU2 billion.
The original design for the mine would make it the largest coal mine in Australia and one of the largest in the world.
Exports are intended to leave the country via port facilities at Hay Point and Abbot Point after being transported to the coast via rail. The proposal includes a new 189km (117mi) railway line to connect with the existing Goonyella railway line. Most of the exported coal is planned to be shipped to India.⁷⁷

1. Photo by Workfortravel, (ironically), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keeper_Reef,_Great_Barrier_Reef.jpg(↩)
2. https://www.iea.org/statistics/(↩)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KoMeJB_ywY(↩)
4. https://www.worldenergydata.org/climate-part-3/(↩)
5. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-26/solar-customers-victim-predatory-unregulated-industry/10936346(↩)(↩)
6. table 1(b), https://www.worldenergydata.org/world-energy-supply/(↩)
7. https://www.worldenergydata.org/china/(↩)
8. http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions(↩)
9. chart 6, https://www.worldenergydata.org/china/(↩)
10. chart 5 of https://www.worldenergydata.org/world-energy-supply/(↩)
11. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dockwise_HLV_BLUE_MARLIN_preparing_to_offload_OCEAN_MONARCH.jpg, Jim Hatter from US [CC BY 2.0](↩)
12. https://www.infield.com/rigs/ocean-monarch-semisub-60034(↩)
13. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-03/two-new-gas-wells-drilled-offshore/9722012(↩)
14. http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources-and-advice/australian-resource-reviews/black-coal(↩)(↩)
15. https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/mineral-resources-and-advice/australian-resource-reviews/brown-coal(↩)(↩)
16. Note 2 of figure 4, https://www.transgrid.com.au/news-views/publications/Documents/Transmission%20Annual%20Planning%20Report%202018%20TransGrid.pdf(↩)
17. 1-208MW*2/25GW(↩)
18. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Liddell_with_power_stations.jpg, Webaware [Public domain](↩)
19. Total value of Australian exported goods and services during 2017 – 18 = $403.2 billion. Iron ore = $61.4 billion (61.4/403.2 = 15.2%), coal = $60.4 billion (60.4/403.2 = 15%), LNG = $30.9 billion (30.9/403.2 = 7.7%) and crude oil = $6.5 billion (6.5/403.2 = 1.6%), copied from https://www.austrade.gov.au/news/economic-analysis/australia-a-resilient-trade-performance(↩)(↩)
20. The emission intensity of steel is 2.9tCO₂/tCoal, and the emission intensity of a coal fired power plant ranges from 1.4tCO₂/tCoal to 3.6tCO₂/tCoal. This is calculated by the following steps using values taken from the subsequent four references listed along with this reference. Steel manufacture: 0.77tCoal/tSteel and 2.2 tCO₂/tSteel. Therefore the emission intensity of steel is 1tSteel / 0.77tCoal × 2.2tCO₂/tSteel = 2.9tCO₂/tCoal. Coal fired power: 470gCoal/kWh and 675 to 1689gCO₂/kWh. Therefore the emission intensity of a coal fired power plant is 675CO₂/kWh / 470gCoal/kWh = 1.4tCO₂/tCoal to 1689CO₂/kWh / 470g_coal/kWh = 3.6tCO₂/tCoal(↩)
21. https://www.worldcoal.org/coal/uses-coal/how-steel-produced(↩)
22. figure TS.27, p.83, Edenhofer O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, S. Kadner, J.C. Minx, S. Brunner, S. Agrawala, G. Baiocchi, I.A. Bashmakov, G. Blanco, J. Broome, T. Bruckner, M. Bustamante, L. Clarke, M. Conte Grand, F. Creutzig, X. Cruz-Núñez, S. Dhakal, N.K. Dubash, P. Eickemeier, E. Farahani, M. Fischedick, M. Fleurbaey, R. Gerlagh, L. Gómez-Echeverri, S. Gupta, J. Harnisch, K. Jiang, F. Jotzo, S. Kartha, S. Klasen, C. Kolstad, V. Krey, H. Kunreuther, O. Lucon, O. Masera, Y. Mulugetta, R. B. Norgaard, A. Patt, N. H. Ravindranath, K. Riahi, J. Roy, A. Sagar, R. Schaeffer, S. Schlömer, K. C. Seto, K. Seyboth, R. Sims, P. Smith, E. Som- anathan, R. Stavins, C. von Stechow, T. Sterner, T. Sugiyama, S. Suh, D. Ürge-Vorsatz, K. Urama, A. Venables, D. G. Victor, E. Weber, D. Zhou, J. Zou, and T. Zwickel, 2014: Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change[Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J. C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.(↩)
23. https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/common_energy_units_conversion_other_commodities_review_final_1-30-17.pdf(↩)
24. p.538, Bruckner T., I.A. Bashmakov, Y. Mulugetta, H. Chum, A. de la Vega Navarro, J. Edmonds, A. Faaij, B. Fungtammasan, A. Garg, E. Hertwich, D. Honnery, D. Infield, M. Kainuma, S. Khennas, S. Kim, H. B. Nimir, K. Riahi, N. Strachan, R. Wiser, and X. Zhang, 2014: Energy Systems. In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA(↩)
25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_natural_gas(↩)
26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas(↩)
27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefied_petroleum_gas(↩)
28. 15.2% + 15% + 7.7% + 1.6% = 39.5%(↩)
29. https://www.lngworldnews.com/australia-edges-qatar-as-worlds-largest-lng-exporter-in-november/(↩)
30. Fig 3.4, page 62, https://webstore.iea.org/energy-policies-of-iea-countries-australia-2018-review(↩)
31. https://archive.industry.gov.au/resource/About/Australias-Major-Resources-Commodities/Documents/Fact-Sheet-COAL.pdf(↩)(↩)(↩)
32. https://archive.industry.gov.au/resource/About/Australias-Major-Resources-Commodities/Documents/Fact-Sheet-GAS.pdf(↩)(↩)
33. https://www.fridaysforfuture.org(↩)
34. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-46380418(↩)
35. https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-resources-statement/the-australian-resources-sector-significance-and-opportunities(↩)(↩)(↩)(↩)
36. The initial proposal of the Carmichael coal mine would make it the largest in the world. Oil extraction in the Great Australian Bight would see wells drilled in water 1km deeper than Deepwater Horizon and oil extraction over an area as large as the Mississippi Delta, which includes the Gulf of Mexico: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-15/australias-great-southern-reef-fears-over-oil-drilling-plans/10611140.(↩)
37. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convicts_in_Australia(↩)
38. Photo by JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_House_Canberra_Dusk_Panorama.jpg(↩)
39. https://archive.industry.gov.au/resource/Offshore-oil-and-gas/Development/Pages/LNG-Projects.aspx(↩)(↩)
40. https://australia.chevron.com/our-businesses/gorgon-project(↩)(↩)
41. The global trade of LNG in 2015 was 245Mtpa, p13, https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/12/f34/Understanding%20Natural%20Gas%20and%20LNG%20Options.pdf(↩)
42. https://thewest.com.au/business/energy/the-day-disaster-struck-gorgon-ng-b88423525z(↩)
43. https://www.ge.com/reports/post/117086423145/huge-ge-gas-turbine-generator-starts-up-at-one-of/(↩)
44. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/threatened-animals-suffer-for-gas-project-ng-dd6a57939a3d74db09584f04d390a66a(↩)
45. https://www.afr.com/business/energy/gas/chevron-in-further-multibillion-dollar-investment-in-gorgon-lng-20180415-h0ys86(↩)
46. https://www.woodside.com.au/our-business/north-west-shelf-project#.WjtK7f4UkuU(↩)
47. https://www.woodside.com.au/news-and-media/stories/story/gwf-2-puts-foot-on-the-gas(↩)
48. http://www.conocophillips.com.au/what-we-do/our-projects-activities/bayu-undan/(↩)
49. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/16/australia-accused-of-siphoning-millions-in-timor-leste-oil-revenue(↩)
50. http://www.conocophillips.com.au/what-we-do/our-projects-activities/barossa-project/(↩)
51. https://www.bechtel.com/projects/curtis-island-lng/(↩)
52. http://www.conocophillips.com.au/what-we-do/our-projects-activities/australia-pacific-lng/(↩)
53. https://www.woodside.com.au/our-business/pluto-lng(↩)
54. https://www.woodside.com.au/our-business/wheatstone-lng(↩)
55. https://www.woodside.com.au/our-business/australia-oil(↩)
56. https://www.shell.com.au/about-us/projects-and-locations/prelude-flng.html(↩)
57. https://www.shell.com.au/about-us/projects-and-locations/prelude-flng/_jcr_content/par/relatedtopics_be45.stream/1509004520788/bc8653ba13d5e00e1192216acbef9f35a6f697162a219bffcd108b1aa7eda83a/shell-prelude-factsheet-oct-2017.pdf?(↩)
58. https://www.inpex.com.au/our-projects/ichthys-lng-project/here-for-the-long-haul/(↩)
59. https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2018/documents/Resources-and-Energy-Quarterly-December-2018-Thermal-Coal.pdf(↩)
60. https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2018/index.html(↩)
61. https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/show/all/2601/2017/(↩)
62. https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/resourcesandenergyquarterlyseptember2018/documents/Resources-and-Energy-Quarterly-September-2018-Met-Coal.pdf(↩)
63. https://archive.industry.gov.au/resource/About/Australias-Major-Resources-Commodities/Documents/Fact-Sheet-IRON-ORE.pdf(↩)
64. p4, https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/124309/124309_AIMR.pdf(↩)
65. p71 of Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2018, https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/124309/124309_AIMR.pdf(↩)
66. p56, https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/110628/110628_investors_guide.pdf(↩)
67. https://pwcs.com.au(↩)
68. http://www.conocophillips.com.au/what-we-do/our-projects-activities/greater-poseidon/(↩)
69. http://www.conocophillips.com.au/what-we-do/our-projects-activities/athena/(↩)
70. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-02/timor-leste-buys-stake-in-greater-sunrise-fields/10328274(↩)
71. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia–East_Timor_spying_scandal(↩)
72. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-28/witness-k-and-bernard-collaery-charged-intelligence-act-breach/9919268(↩)
73. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/27/former-judge-delays-witness-k-case-abandonment-open-fair-justice(↩)
74. https://files.woodside/docs/default-source/our-business—documents-and-files/burrup-hub—documents-and-files/burrup-hub-fact-sheet.pdf?sfvrsn=a45e92ce_18(↩)
75. https://www.shell.com.au/about-us/projects-and-locations/the-crux-project/project-overview.html(↩)
76. https://www.adaniaustralia.com(↩)
77. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmichael_coal_mine(↩)