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Four Corners: June 15

This week Four Corners asks is the The End Of Coal?

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This week Four Corners asks is the The End Of Coal? With the price of coal plummeting and our biggest customers turning to renewable energy, is Australia backing a loser?

When Prime Minister Tony Abbott famously declared coal to be “good for humanity” and “essential to the prosperity of Australia” there was no doubting he saw a coal-fuelled future for the nation.

And it’s easy to see why: Australia has one of the world’s largest deposits of coal; it provides two-thirds of our power, employs more than 50,000 people and brings in more than $40 billion a year from exports.

Yet not everyone is so upbeat. Some argue that the downturn is permanent.

Four Corners explores the driving forces that neither the Federal Government nor the mining industry can control.

Among the challenges, rapid technological change revolutionising the way we generate and store power.

And investors are getting nervous.

And with countries like China, America and the rest of the G7 committing to curbs on fossil fuels, will Australia be left on the wrong side of history?

Monday 15th June 8.30pm ABC.

2 Responses

  1. Watching this right now.

    The future is renewable power, in SA over 1/4 of the their power comes from wind, right now we have to technology to make this and solar or primary source of power not only here in Australia but world wide. We just need governments to have the balls to invest in it and get new power plants built.

  2. Annual global production is currently 7865 million tonnes and coal powered electricity is still the cheapest. Germany is replacing its nuclear power with new coal fired power stations. Wind power is currently 4% of electricity and solar much less. So the answer is obviously no.

    As gas production increases and India and China rapidly roll out nuclear power, coal production may have peaked though.

    Four Corners is unlikely to let the facts get in the way of moralising and scaremongering though.

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