Essay by Eric Worrall
Australia made $100 billion from coal exports this year – but the Aussie government still wants everyone else to pay for the green energy transition.
Australia calls for World Bank to step up climate change action efforts
By Jorge Branco 7:33am Nov 16, 2022
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has criticised some financial institutions for not doing enough to fight climate change, calling on the World Bank to “wholeheartedly” commit to the task.
Leading Australia’s delegation to the first United Nations climate summit since Labor’selection win, he declared the country was “back as a constructive, positive and willing climate collaborator.”
In his national statement to COP27 in Egypt, Bowen recommitted Australia to the goal, agreed to at COP26 in Glasgow last year, of keeping global warming as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.
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Read more: https://www.9news.com.au/national/cop27-australian-climate-change-minister-chris-bowen-calls-for-world-bank-to-step-up-climate-change-action-efforts/356b6c1c-1f7f-4435-bb46-93c75723d3ba
This is the first year Australia made AU $100 billion from coal exports, enough to singlehandedly pay for a large chunk of the UN’s US $100 billion climate fund.
Record $43.1b trade surplus as coal exports boom
Michael Read Reporter
Sep 6, 2022 – 12.56pmAustralia has recorded its 13th consecutive current account surplus after booming coal prices drove a record $43 billion trade surplus.
Strong growth in export volumes means Australia’s improved trade balance will contribute 1 percentage point to June quarter GDP growth, to be released on Wednesday.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics acting head of international statistics Grace Kim said annual exports of coal exceeded $100 billion for the first time.
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Read more: https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/record-43-1b-trade-surplus-as-coal-exports-boom-20220906-p5bfrp
My point is, Australia demanding everyone else pay for the renewable transition is absurd, while Australia is sitting on such a vast coal export windfall profit.
I would much rather all that money was kept and spent in Australia on useful things, like dam renovation projects to prevent a repeat of the horror flooding which afflicted New South Wales this year. New South Wales is our most heavily populated state.
But if anyone is going to pay for the global green energy transition, that should be the nation with the mouthy politicians, which is making such huge profits from exporting coal.
If they were serious, they would build nukes. Which actually exist, rather than vaporware utility scale batteries.
Oh utility scale batteries exist but the question is how long before they go up in smoke?
Not at utility scale. I seem to remember the largest battery in service is good for maybe ten minutes backup, if that.
The one in South Australia would power the state for about two minutes, although it’s throttled to last thirty. It’s purpose isn’t to keep the state running, but to act as a fast reaction peaking supply.
In terms of keeping the state running, think of trying to start a truck engine with a pair of AA batteries.
The analogy may not be that good. This starter pack has four AA size cells inside:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3PNF3qtgag
Starting a truck takes a lot of power for a short period. Not much energy involved.
I’d say the analogy is pretty good. The cells in that pack may be the size of 4 AA cells, but they are definitely not 4 actual AA cells. (I’m not sure how you concluded what size the cells in that pack were, because the video doesn’t show them, and the pack itself is much larger than 4 AA cells) The starter pack says it can provide 1000 amps, and an AA cell might provide 2. So although you would only need about 10 AA cells to provide the energy in that starter pack, you would need 500 of them just to get the current you need for a short period…
The last time I looked, a CAR battery was good for 300 CCA. Let’s say your car starts easily, 150 Amps, with a fresh battery, so 11 volts at the terminals, (under severe load). The starter motor runs for 5 seconds, (pre-fuel injection).
I calculate the Power at 1650W, the energy at 8250J. Doesn’t sound too much till you realise that the paddles used to stop a heart provide around 200J.
Or another way of looking at it, you could lift 825kg one metre off the ground. Care to do that in 5 seconds.
And that’s a car. Not bad for a 12v battery.
The technology for utility scale batteries exist, but the money needed to actually build one doesn’t.
Say that battery was built — what happens when it ignites?
Break out the marshmallows?
its in the usually very dry mid nth at Hallet I AM waiting for the hot summer when it goes up and does a huge amount of damage
As an Australian, I do not want anything to do with the World Bank and do not want them to pay for any energy transition. I do not want an energy “transition”. But the World Bank thing just screams “It’s a trap!”, they will indebt us to an extra-national organization who will then use that as leverage to force Australia to implement their favored policies. Those policies will be globalist authoritarian collectivist (Neo-Marxist) policies which are in direct opposition to the interests of the people of Australia. Any politician who devolves the sovereignty of their citizens to a foreign body is a traitor and should be treated thusly.
Bowen won’t pay, IMO it’s all noise. But it would be funny to see him squirm under his own BS.
A much more scary thought is that Bowen might actually try to pay.
Eric,
For the Green Climate Fund,I calculate the shortfall for last year (to be repeated this year)is some US$60 billion after allowing for $15 billion (or $11 billion, whichever report you believe) promised by Biden, and no more than 23 billion Euros from the EU nations.
That leaves who to make up the difference?
The UK, Canada,Australia,NZ and a few others.
If you work on the Carbon Brief Index figure of 1% for Australia,that is US $600 million annually going forward, before we get to Climate Reparations.
The developing countries will treat such a contribution as “insulting.”
Where does that leave Chris Bowen and the Australian delegation this week?
As stupid as Bowen is, he cannot ante up serious sums beyond $600 million without his government (which keeps moaning to us about the “ inherited” national debt of $1 trillion) being roasted by the MSM in Australia.
In fact they would get roasted promising $600 million.
The UK press particularly the Grauniad is critical of the £200 million that Britain is in arrears to the GCF as at last September
Nice dilemma and thoroughly deserved.
Australia leads the world in handing over sovereignty to the UN. Australia is usually the first to sign up to UN treaties and usually meets its obligations. The treaties are so extensive that they are compiled in a database.
The emergency powers proclaimed by the States in Australia during Covid negated the UN treaty on human rights but usually the UN treaties are followed. Vaccine passports contravene the UN treaty on human rights but were widely accepted.
I am constantly dumbfounded by the economic illiteracy of politicians (and plenty of ordinary citizens) when they clamor for someone else to “pay”.
No bank (even the world bank) or government has any income to fund anything – other than wealth that was confiscated from John Q Citizen in the form of taxation.
Taxation, I which might add consumes 30 to 95% of the tax collected via the sticky fingers of inefficient administration, rent seeking and outright fraud.
As Margaret Thatcher once stated “It is your tax which pays for public spending. The government have no money of their own. There is only taxpayers’ money”.
“There are only two sources of tax, you or me”
Councilor Frank Van Der Velde (Former Mayor of Cape Town)
Southern Hemisphere logs coldest average temperature anomaly since 2012
JCM,
Plus the embarrassment of the UAH satellite temperatures for the lower troposphere over Australia.
Why are schools not teaching that children under 10 have never felt the impact of increased global warming?
Why are schools not teaching that the profits from coal exports are due to companies who spent large amounts of money to build mines and towns and ports and railways? And not the gubmint that seeks to steal those monies to enforce its unwanted ideologies?
Geoff S
http://www.geoffstuff.com/uahnov.jpg
COP27 needs to be renamed permanently. How ’bout HYPOCRISY27
terry,
Shouldn’t that be HIGHCOPRISY27?
We do not know what the profit is, but good for them. Also the Labour Government speaking at COP27 and the coal industry are two very different critters.
Australia could call their bluff by saying “If the UN/WEF/etc pay us the market price of coal then we’ll leave that amount in the ground and reduce exports by that amount. $100bn a year is all it will take for us to stop all coal exports.”.
Of course, the far more sensible thing to do would be for Australia to use more coal itself. South Australia is in dire need of some reliable electricity right now, and two or three new coal-fired power stations there would make a massive difference. SA would of course still suffer from a broken system until they could be built, but in their case ‘broken’ really does mean broken.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry over Australia’s energy situation. But it would be fun to see our politicians squirm, if they are hit by international pressure to do more heavy lifting using all those coal profits.
How many years wuld it take to get throught the planning permission cycle, the inevitable lawsuits and then actually build and commission the plants. What risk would the utilities entail, on the off chance that a new Government would cancel it all after the utility had invested large some in the effortz/
fat chance of anything from what was Adelaide gas and light AGL
thats scumbag Atlassian canon brookes twerp got 4 of his cronies onto the board of agl and will destroy it asap
When you say that the SA power system is ‘broken’, I think you mean dynamited. You can’t fix stupid & although I came from SA originally, I think that the only solution is to wait until they hit rock bottom & then say ‘I told you so’.
Rock bottom worse than this?
https://joannenova.com.au/2022/11/renewable-south-australia-islanded-flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants-afraid-of-a-solar-surge-on-a-sunny-day/
Unable to use battery, lights out but neighbours ok with a gennie?
Biden wants to give Malaysia $20B to transition to wind/solar.
If Australia promises 10% for the big guy, perhaps you can get a slice of that money.
Probably borrowed the money from Malaysia then returned it as a development grant…
“Australia” made $100 billion? Is that the government’s export taxes, the mining companies’ profits. what? I doubt very much any bank account has $100 billion just sitting around waiting to be given to … who?
$100 billion total gross sales. But don’t worry, various Aussie governments have their hands out, plenty of jacking up resource taxes happening.
Gross sales? But how much of that money is actually left to do anything?
Likely not a lot, once the government gets done.
I’m half surprised they haven’t taxed it at 110%.
Eric,
Maybe we should all start demanding that the World Bank provide us 24/7 “renewable” energy!
They would never be able to reach that goal, and might go bankrupt if they try.
If the World Bank becomes insolvent, would the whole planet go belly up?
Australia is already doing a mighty job supplying all the met coal and iron ore needed to build the monster monuments to the climate gods.
Global mining has to undergo rapid expansion of coal and other mineral resources to cope with the NutZero demand for more monuments.
Chinese coal mines get CNY700/t for thermal coal, That is a fraction of the global spot market price so China is really subsidising the so-called “transition” in the developed world with its cheap coal. China must be confident that their nuclear industry can take up the load once the coal runs out as they have given up on weather as a source of energy.
Create CryptO2 for the purpose and all the Greenies can sequester their dough in it
May as well try it on, there is a vast reservoir of stupid just waiting to be tapped.
I never really thought of Australia being a stronghold of turkeys (of the sort that Vote for Christmas)
Dunno why but there you go, learn something new every day.
Even The Wiki struggles to say a good word for the (really bad) joke that is World Bank
Quote from wiki:”Another source of criticism has been the tradition of having an American head the bank, implemented because the United States provides the majority of World Bank funding. “When economists from the World Bank visit poor countries to dispense cash and advice,” observed The Economist in 2012, “they routinely tell governments to reject cronyism and fill each important job with the best candidate available. It is good advice. The World Bank should take it.”
is it more like OS corporations made 100bil from aussie coal sales?? and paid some tax to ausgov..
if theres anything in the kitty rebuilding massive road damage and relocation of multiple flooded residents etc will take all that and more to even begin to fix.
if EU and world bank and WEF want money for green scams then yeah they can find it themselves.
stuff giving them one red cent!!
Under modern Progressivism, it’s always assumed that it’s up to someone else to pay or otherwise make the sacrifices.