blog #5

Port Waratah is one of the worlds largest coal handling operations.  Port Waratah, the MacQuarie Power Plant and the mine that Nigel Worton took us to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Because we live in a culture that uses massive amounts of energy, ports, mines, and power plants need to operate efficiently and effectively to maximize their potential profits.  The supply chain of coal, which includes the mining process, the transportation, the distribution and the utilization of the coal into energy has been dominated lately by countries such as China, South Korea, India and Japan that are buying massive amounts of Australian coal.  Not only does Port Waratah and the power plant handle huge amounts of coal and connects it to the worldwide supply chain of coal, it also stimulates the Australian economy by utilizing Australia’s railway system and providing high paying jobs.  The Australian mining industries, Port Waratah in particular use, sell and export different grades of coal to countries.  There is high and low quality coal, steaming coal and coking coal, and according to Brian McMahon they have up to 80 different types and combinations of coal.  Australia also purchases extremely expensive equipment, such as Caterpillar trucks from the United States, with names such as extruders, reclaimers, shiploaders, and stackers.  These factors connect Australia to the global economy and are the beginning point in the coal supply chain. 

An example of the remarkable and extremely expensive equipment that Australia imports for the coal mining industry.

A medium sized (PANAMIZE) vessal that was being loaded by Port Waratah.

The towers that let off mostly water vapor from the MacQuarie Power Plant.  

            Australia is a country that has been very adversely affected by climate change.  Unfortunately, the ozone layer over Australia is very thin.  It contributes greatly to the epidemic proportion of Australian’s that are developing skin cancer.  Also, 80% of Australia’s population lives in cities, with 40% living in just two cities.  That means that urbanization is a huge part of the Australian culture and markets.  With growing energy need, cities require more and more energy.  The power plants are fueling whole cities and burning huge amounts of coal.  According to the Macquarie Power plant, there is no longer high and lows points during the day of energy use, it plateau at its peak and does not drop until after 8:30 pm.  This is causing the power plant to burn 300 tons/hour, around 40,000 tons/day because they fuel 40% of New South Wales and 15% of the rest of the country!