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CSIRO Media Release |
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7 December 1998 |
Ref 98/285 |
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CSIRO is celebrating 50 years of collaboration with the coal
industry - the mining companies, the power generators and the
equipment manufacturers.
In 1948, recognising the importance of the growing coal export
industry and increased use of coal for domestic electricity supplies,
a Coal Research Station was officially established at North Ryde.
The unit has gone through many name changes but remains part
of CSIRO Energy Technology.
In the intervening years, coal research has spread to other parts
of CSIRO drawing on the diverse range of skills of the organisation.
Today CSIRO invests over $19 million each year in coal-related
R&D, six million of that directly from industry.
What has it achieved? Initially the research was focussed on
contributing to the marketing of Australian coals by investigating
and characterising their content - coal is very complex 'black-stuff'.
More recently the outcomes have been applied to increasing productivity
reducing costs and minimising environmental impacts:
- developing instruments to measure the ash content of coal on conveyors so that the processes changes can be made quickly and produce a better quality product,
- helping mine operators plan their operations to maximise safety and extraction efficiency,
- developing equipment and software to improve the safety and productivity of mines,
- introducing novel technologies into coal preparation plants to make the 'cleaning' process more efficient and produce less waste,
- improving flue gas cleaning so that Australia's coal-fired plant are amongst the cleanest in the world,
- Investigation of advanced power generation technologies to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants,
- a comprehensive minesite rehabilitation program to return mined areas to general use.
'The list of achievements is substantial,' says John Wright,
Chief of CSIRO's Energy Technology. 'Australian coals are high
quality; they have a low sulphur content and very low concentrations
of the trace elements that cause environmental concern contained
in some overseas coals. But that doesn't mean we - or the industry
- can rest on our laurels. There are still quality improvements
to be made and one of the challenges for an R&D organisation
is to look how we, in consultation with industry, can add further
value to our major energy resource.
'Looking ahead we have many exciting projects in the pipeline,
a coal gasification facility going into our Brisbane laboratories,
a major collaboration effort with the Japanese in ultraclean
coal, major investment in contributing to roadway development
to speed up mine development, and so on.
'A major challenge is to ensure the industry has a minimal environmental
impact. CSIRO, along with the industry, sees the environmental
aspects of the coal industry, particularly greenhouse gas emissions,
as a vital concern of the community and are committed to pursuing
research which tackle this global problem head on. Most of our
work for the coal industry has a greenhouse gas reduction component,
and some have that goal as the main driver. So far, I am very
encouraged by the partnerships developing with the industry in
supporting R&D which will result in reduced emissions.
More information from:
Dr John Wright mobile 0417 411 825
(Dr Wright will be attending the 8th Australian Coal Science
Conference at the Main Lecture Theatre, University of NSW between
8 am and 11am but can be contacted by mobile)
Chris Thompson 02 9710 6816
Maria Knox 0418 483 559.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(Australia's largest scientific research organisation)
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