Opinion: Coal use at a record high and has a bright future

Coal doesn’t just have a bright future – it plays an essential role in supporting our own future, writes Nick Jorss.

While reading the dire predictions for the future of Queensland’s coal industry, I was reminded of celebrated author Mark Twain’s famous quote: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Coal doesn’t just have a bright future – it plays an essential role in supporting our own future, right here in Australia.

This story is part of The Courier-Mail’s special Future Queensland: Resources series that reveals the truth about the contribution the much-maligned resources industry makes to Queensland. You can read all of our coverage here

Cheap and reliable energy has been at the centre of rising living standards since the discovery of coal kicked off the industrial revolution.

“Energy is life”, and the cost of energy underpins the cost of everything we consume.

Not surprisingly, the drive to shut Australia’s reliable low-cost coal-fired power stations early has coincided with a rapid increase in our power bills, as well as the costs of other everyday

purchases.

Currently, coal provides about half of Australia’s energy needs and a third of global energy.

Energy demand is set to skyrocket with new, highly energy-intensive technologies such as machine learning and AI.

ChatGPT uses at least 10 times the energy of a Google search, and a single machine-learning process can use as much energy as 10,000 cars do in a day.

All of this adds up to massive growth in energy consumption.

So, the challenge isn’t just about meeting current energy needs, it’s also about powering the advances in living standards and technology we expect to see in coming years.

That’s why global coal consumption is at a record high today, and likely to increase much further.

Coal is also essential for making steel, cement and aluminium. In fact, the vast majority of Queensland’s high-quality coal production is metallurgical coal, essential for the production of new steel.

That means coal is literally building our future. Without it, we couldn’t build our homes, bridges, schools and hospitals. And there is no economically viable replacement on the horizon.

With global demand for steel set to grow by up to 60 per cent by 2050, demand for Australia’s high-quality coal will also increase.

Here in Australia, the push to build more homes and address housing affordability relies on

the production of more steel, meaning yet more coal is needed.

Coal is Queensland’s biggest export industry, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Restricting our coal mining industry with excessive taxes and regulation will impact not only

the Queensland and Australian economies, but the economies of our regional partners and allies.

So, reports of coal’s demise aren’t just greatly exaggerated. Coal is alive and well, powering and forging our future.

Nick Jorss is executive chairman at Bowen Coking Coal