Mirror 29 April 09 King Coal With ever-increasing electricity prices and the coming of Peak Oil, coal is making a big comeback. The industry says that it's not a question of whether we'll use coal - but how we'll use it. Environmentalists disagree. They say that coal is the dirtiest energy source, emitting far more greenhouse gases than natural gas or even oil. Burning coal would speed up dangerous global warming, not to mention the potential harm done during mining. What's that got to do with us? We’re sitting on enormous reserves of lignite. Exploration in the late 70s discovered 284 million tonnes (Mt) at Home Hills and 445 Mt at Hawkdun. There's a seam up to 40 m thick at Roxburgh East, containing 182 Mt, 74 Mt in the Lower Nevis, and 50 Mt in Idaburn-Oturehua. 1,035 million tones of lignite. Enough to meet New Zealand's liquid energy needs for up to 20 years. Last week the Minister for Conservation excluded some of the Maniototo's Hawkdun lignite reserves from the 65,000 hectare Oteake Conservation Park, which the previous government spent $12.4m creating. I'm on record saying the mining of lignite in Central Otago is inevitable, but it won't be in my time. Whenever, it'll be controversial. Malcolm Macpherson Monday, April 27, 2009 BACK to the front page Copyright 2009 Macpherson Publishing | All rights reserved