Adani purchased its license to mine coal in the Galilee Basin on August 3rd, 2010. Adani planned to commence production in 2014 and ramp up to export 60 million tonnes of coal every year, facilitated by public and private finance, a new airport, a new coal-fired power station, and 400km of new rail.[1] If Adani had achieved this plan, by the end of 2020, the company would have shipped a total of 166 million tonnes of coal from the mine.[2] When burnt this would have released 310 million tonnes of CO2 – more than all of France emitted from burning fossil fuels in 2019.[3]

If Adani’s mine had gone ahead it would have led the way for at least 8 more mega mines in the Galilee Basin. But, thanks to people power,  ten years later Adani (and every other mining giant with a Galilee Basin coal licence) have failed to burn a single lump of Galilee coal. Adani have had to  halve the length of their rail line and scale back their initial mine size to 10 million tonnes per annum, or 1/6 of their desired output. Over 100 major companies have refused to be involved with the project and Adani’s potential insurers are dropping like flies.

References

1. Adani Mining Pty Ltd (2010) Initial Advice Statement, Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project, 22 October 2010
2. Assuming a linear annual increase in production from 2014 towards the 2022 goal of 60Mtpa
3. Assuming a 90 kg CO2-e/GJ emissions factor for Carmichael coal. Emissions comparison source: bp Statistical Review of World Energy June 2020 http://www.bp.com/statisticalreview