There is no doubt that burning coal causes global warming, even the industry admits that;

The Australian Coal Association knows that climate change is a real problem. We acknowledge the part we play in it. Burning coal for electricity creates CO2, which contributes to global warming.
Source ACA website: http://www.newgencoal.com.au/blog_detail.aspx?view=11

Coal power stations provide electricity for a very few cents per kilowatt hour to the consumer. What’s not shown on your utility bill are some of the 'outsourced' costs. 'Full Cost Accounting' would incorporate all of the items below into the price of coal fired power.

Greenhouse gasses

Coal is particularly high in greenhouse gas production. Even the highest grade of coal produces huge quantities of carbon dioxide. The lower the grade of coal, the less energy it will produce per kilogram and the more greenhouse gasses will be emitted in the process. The lowest grade is brown coal (lignite).
Open cut coal mines release methane into the environment which is a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Source: Factors and Methods Workbook 2008

Environment

You can see for yourself the size of coal mines using Google Earth, see the links under 'Google Earth'. Open cut mines are often so big that the massive equipment used is often hard to locate within the mine. Use the Google Earth measure tool to see how long the mines are.

Rehabilitation

See the University of Queensland site ‘Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation’ for a look at what the mining industry has done to clean up it’s act. The prominent mine location near Canberra was rehabilitated with taxpayer money. http://cmlr.uq.edu.au/abandonedMines.htm

Slurry

Toxic coal slurry is often a by product of coal extraction. Held in impoundments, one such dam broke in 2000 in the US state of Kentucky releasing 200 million gallons of toxic sludge into the big sandy river. The US Environmental Protection Agency called it ‘the worst environmental disaster ever east of the Mississippi’. Watch the video showing the impoundments and toxic flood. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPixjCneseE&eurl=

Sulphur

Sulphur Dioxide is a by-product of burning coal and comes out of the furnace smokestacks. Once in the atmosphere it creates ‘acid rain’ making rainwater unsafe to drink and hazardous to agriculture. Developed countries now filter out sulphur dioxide but it remains a problem in developing countries.

Mercury

Mercury is a by-product of burning coal. In the United States coal-fired power plants alone pump about 50 tons of it into the air each year. That mercury rains out of the sky into oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams, where it becomes concentrated in the flesh of fish, shellfish, seals, and whales. Last year the US Food and Drug Administration determined there is so much mercury in the sea that women of childbearing age should severely limit their consumption of larger ocean fish. Read more at http://discovermagazine.com/2005/mar/our-preferred-poison

Dust Particles

Dust particles in the air cause a fog and respiratory ailments such as asthma. Coal burning in China is the main contributor to pollution in it’s cities, seventy percent of which do not meet international World Heath Organisation (WHO) standard for clean air.

Less Rain

Dust particles from factories and power plants increase the number of droplets in clouds they pollute. In doing so, the pollutants create louds that have smaller droplets and retain their water therby producing no rain
For a NASA image of pollution over eastern Australia visit http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=674
For a Google earth view of the same location open this file
For more about interaction between pollution, clouds and rain, visit http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Pollution/
A power plant in Augusta, South Australia, helpled NASA scientists prove this effect, visit http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Pollution/pollution_3.html

Mine Fires

Fires occasionaly break out in coal mines and can be hard to contain and dangerous for firefighters. Causing loss of equipment, coal and CO2 to the atmosphere without any power to show for it they are nasty events. Such a fire at Hazelwood power station in Victoria during October 2006 caused the loss of an $80 million dredger plus conveyor belts and other equipment. Visit http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20579488-2,00.html

Fire Fighting

A fire at Hazelwood Power in September 2008 occupied 45 members of the Country Fire Autority (CFA). The CFA is funded (to about 80%) by the 'Fire Services Levy' against business in their insurance premiums. This in turn is passed on to customers as higher prices so businesses can recover their fixed overheads. Meaning that consumers in general are funding the fire-fighting efforts at Hazelwood, regardless of where they purchase their power from. In October 2006 more than 350 firefighters fought a 1.5km firefront while 87 other fires burnt in the state.

While career (salaried) CFA members were fighting the mine fire, there were also volunteer fire fighters on the job. Thus Hazelwood Power is utilizing volunteer labour to reduce it's operating costs and subsidise the price of power in Victoria. CFA volunteers may be better utilised preparing for and fighting bushfires than helping a highly profitable overseas corporation like International Power.
Source: http://www.ipplc.com.au/Page.php?iPageID=38&op=Display&iNewsID=801
Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20579488-2,00.html

Radiation

Coal ash is mildly radioactive which raises other health issues.

Miner's Lives

Mine accidents kill miners around the world and are especially deadly in developing nations, around 5,000 miners die every year in Chinese coal mines. Countries with high safety standards like Australia still see multiple fatalities associated with the coal mining industry such as those below in the Illawarra reigon of New South Wales (single fatalities not listed).

YEAR LOCATION CAUSE FATALITIES
1887 Bulli Colliery Underground Gas Explosion 81
1895 Metropolitan Colliery Carbon Dioxide Gas Outburst 3
1902 Mount Kembla Underground Gas Explosion 96
1907 South Clifton Colliery Tunnel Roof Failure 4
1925 Metropolitan Colliery Carbon Dioxide Gas Outburst 2
1954 Metropolitan Colliery Carbon Dioxide Gas Outburst 2
1965 Bulli Colliery Underground Fire 4
1979 Appin Colliery Underground Gas Explosion 14
1991 South Bulli Colliery Carbon Dioxide & Methane Gas Outburst 3
Source: http://www.illawarracoal.com/disasters.htm

'Corporate Manslaughter'

Farmington, West Virginia, USA
In the USA a coal mine in Farmington, West Virginia, collapsed after a methane explosion in 1968 killing 78 miners.
20 years later a report from the US Federal Government did not mention that the safety alarm on one of the air extractor fans was deliberatly tampered with so it would not alarm if the fan failed. The deliberately sabotaged safety alarm was mentioned in a memo that was subsequently covered up in a case that could be called coroporate manslaughter.

"The mine foreman should have called the men out of the mine, but he didn't", Supervisor Sehewchuk said. "I complained to the superintendent, but it went in one ear and it went out the other," he said.

A few days after the disaster, Sehewchuk was summoned to testify at the investigation hearings held by federal and state officials. He said a coal company official called him and told him not to go. "They knew my attitude before the explosion and probably that was the reason for it," Sehewchuk said. He told them he didn't want to be arrested, and they told him they'd take care of it, he said. Records show that of the 84 people called to testify, only 47 did so.

Jim Matish, who is now a West Virginia judge, says someone should have been held responsible. "In my opinion, it amounted to a criminal act," Matish said.

At that time around 250 coal miners died in the USA every year, now it's about 30.
Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97115205&ft=1&f=1003
NPR News, 'All things considered' aired on 1026 AM radio Melbourne 12:40 20/11/08

Mine Collapses

Landslides and mine collapses don't just happen in underground mines. Checkout the news report on a mine collapse at Yallourn: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/01/2152351.htm

Towns falling into old coal mines

Mine collapse opens hole in car park Byline: Ronin Turner

WALES'S legacy of forgotten mine shafts came back to haunt Swansea yesterday when a hole opened up in a car park two miles north of Swansea's city centre. Neighbouring buildings in Courtney Street, Manselton, had to be evacuated as structural engineers from Swansea City and CountyCouncil were brought in to make safety checks.

Source: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-97816421.html

Silicosis

Silicosis is an occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of coal dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in forms of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs and is characterized by shortness of breath, fever, and cyanosis (bluish skin). It can be fatal to coal miners.

Asbestosis

Asbestos was (and still is) widely used in the construction of power stations. Workers are exposed to it and the damaging effects of asbestosis and lung cancer. Power industry workers in the LaTrobe Valley are suffering from seven times the national average of lung cancer. On top of the human cost this drains costly resources from the health system that could be directed towards other needs.

Government Subsidies

In 2006 The Australian Government gave $175 million taxpayer dollars to large coal companies in order to help them develop ways to capture CO2 and pump it underground or into the deep sea.
The funds were directed from the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, a program of the Australian Greenhouse Office and are for untested and unproven technologies that are likely to be decades away from commercial implementation. These companies are highly profitable and quite capable of funding their own research and development without taxpayer’s help.
$50 million went to International Power, the operator of Hazelwood power station in Victoria, the filthiest power station in the developed world.
$100 million from the Federal government went to a half Chinese owned company to 'demonstrate' a 30% reduction in emissions from burning brown coal, in addition to $50 million from the Victorian government.
Subsidies: http://www.conferences.unimelb.edu.au/aie2006/files/4A1%20Smedley%202.pdf
Hazelwood: http://www.wwf.org.au/news/n223/
100 million: Was at: http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/env/2007/pubs/mr12mar07.pdf

Tax Credits

Federal fuel tax credits began on the first of July 2006 and specifically include mining. This means that the cost of fossil fuels used in the mining process are subsidised by taxpayers as well as the cost of transporting the coal to market.
Source:www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/n15397_01_2007.pdf "Am I eligible to claim a fuel tax credits?"

Infrastructure

Coal operations need huge infrastructure. High voltage power transmission lines, railways, ports, coal loaders, roads etc.
Much of the infrastructure is paid for by the mining or power companies but sometimes the cost falls to the taxpayer.

Water

To prevent distortion of the earth's surface open cut coal mines will often pump out huge amounts of underground water, often be many times the volume of coal extracted. Thermal power stations consume massive amounts of water in generating electricity, the LaTrobe power industry in Victoria uses about 140 billion litres of water a year or the equivalent of about a third of Melbourne's entire water consumption.(w) The use of coal to generate electricity takes water away from other uses such as agriculture and result in lower dams, less in-ground water and tighter water restrictions. Coal mines rarely pay for water expended in the process of mining.

Food

The coal mines of Victoria, New South Wales and many in Queensland are on some of the best farming land in Australia, some of them occupying the land of several farms. It's difficult to imagine any scenario where the land will ever be used for food production again. This means less food is produced and the reduced supply will cause price increases.

Earthquakes

As huge amounts of coal are removed, and generally much larger volumes of water extracted in the process, the dynamics of geological forces changes. This can lead to earthquakes such as the agnitude-5.6 quake that struck Newcastle, in New South Wales, on December 28, 1989, killed 13 people, injured 160, and caused billions of dollars worth of damage. For more information visit the National Geographic article at
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070103-mine-quake.html

Resources

While coal mining and power companies pay licence fees to operate they do not ‘buy’ the coal they mine. It is a naturally occurring resource that has been created over many hundreds of millions of years. We do not have to pay any body to manufacture coal, or buy it from the earth which possesses the resource.
Mining operations will talk of how many tonnes of coal are ‘won’ from a deposit, as though the coal comes to them free.

Brain Drain

Dr Shi Zhengrong, or the Sun King, is a leading solar scientist and, according to Forbes magazine, is the richest man in China and the fourth richest in Australia. He is estimated to be worth 3 billion dollars and is the inventor of 11 patents in photovoltaic (solar) technology.
Dr Shi Zhengrong is the founder and chief executive of Suntech Power, China's largest solar manufacturer.
He was trained at the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia but couldn't get backing for his projects and then headed for China, taking six of the best minds at the University with him. The low price of coal-fired power in Australia was a major factor in him seeking opportunites overseas. More info. Dr Shi Zhengrong is not the first Australian to take their knowledge and expertise overseas.

Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost refers to the cost of other options that are not pursued. One option would be to leave it in the ground where future generations could access it. Another would be to slow the rate of extraction to create a scarcer supply and increase the price paid for coal and the financial returns to Australia. In the decades ahead there may well be a way of tapping the energy in coal without producing many of the unwanted side effects.
A vast range of plastic and other products are manufactured from oil. In the future mankind may well be able to make similar commodities using coal as a raw ingredient. By using the coal now we are reducing our options in the future.

Price Shocks

The cost of power from coal varies depending upon the input costs such as the price of coal, water, labour and waste disposal. Any increase in these inputs, such as the drought in 2006-7 that made water expensive, will be passed on as higher electricity prices with little warning. An emission trading system that places a price on carbon would also increase the price of power. The inflationary impact of higher energy prices would be felt in every part of our economy and by every individual. Renewable power on the other hand is virtually immune to any price shocks.

Shady Business

Fossil Fuel companies may be able to gain influence over government policy through cash donations to political parties however it doesn't seem to end there with some companies seeming to take a more direct approach. One which risks compromising our democratic process.
Ken Talbot is the founder, former managing director and cheif exectutive of Macarthour Coal. In November 2006 it was alleged that he may have acted improperly by loaning $300,000 to former Queensland government minister Gordon Nuttall. Mr Nuttall was jailed for six years in July 2009 for receiving corrupt payments. (Courier Mail 14/08/2009 link)  Mr Talbot is due to face a committal hearing in the second half of 2007 and has delayed the trial start date. During this time Mr Talbot continued his association with the company as a non-executuive director despite the allegations of impropriety. Mr Talbot is one of Australia's richest people and appears on the BRW Rich 200 list. Reported in the July 12, 2007 edition of BRW. Mr Talbot was also awarded the mining industry 'Deal of the Year' award at the 2009 Kalgoorlie annual dinner (which he flew to in his personal Lear jet). Reported in the August 13, 2009 edition of BRW on page 13 link.

Other costs

For costs specific to brown coal power go to the Hazelwood page. Click here.

Cost comparison

A comparing the cost of coal fired power against renewables on a cents per kilowatt hour at the meter is unfair as it does not take into account all of the above hidden costs. Doing so would make renewable power more competitive and save the hidden cost to our environment, health, resources and taxes.

Sources;
(w) The Age 27/6/7 News page 5 'Power firms probe desalination' by Rachel Kleinman

Coal Mining Action Sites;
New Zealand, Happy Valley www.savehappyvalley.org.nz/happyvalley.php?page=solidenergy
USA mountain-top removal http://www.ilovemountains.org/

Coal Action Sites;
www.risingtide.org.au
Reality video on clean coal http://action.thisisreality.org/page/invite/RCOALergyTAF