Coal21 looks to the future

Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s climate change action plan outlines our commitment to supporting research and promotion of clean coal technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the use of coal.

One of our many partnerships is COAL21, an initiative of the Australian Coal Association (ACA) aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions arising from the use of coal in electricity generation in Australia.  It is a collaborative, consensus-building programme involving participants from federal and state governments, the coal and electricity industries and research organisations.

In addition to funds spent on research, the ACA COAL21 levy was announced in March 2006 to support the development of clean coal technology.
    
The levy is a voluntary contribution by 90 per cent of the Australian black coal industry with an estimated A$200 to A$300 million over five years. The levy will apply on a per tonne of production basis.

Based on 2006 production figures, Rio Tinto Coal Australia and Coal & Allied will contribute approximately A$12 to $15 million per year.

The COAL21 levy is separate from and additional to the existing ACA Research Project levy (5 cents per tonne) and special coal levies for ACA operations (0.75 cents per tonne).

Rio Tinto and its coal subsidiaries Rio Tinto Coal Australia, Coal & Allied, and Rio Tinto Energy America, participate in a number of global research efforts. In Australia, these include the CO2 Collaborative Research Centre (CO2CRC) and the Collaborative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development (CCSD).

In the Unites States, we support projects such as the Battelle Global Technology Strategy Program (GTSP) and the FutureGen zero emissions coal facility demonstration.

For more information about clean coal technologies, visit http://www.coal21.com.au/.