The right kind of venting

Michelle Manook, Chief Executive, World Coal Association

Michelle Manook is Chief Executive of the World Coal Association. She has held the role since July 2019. Previously, she was Head of Strategy, Government and Communications for Europe, Asia and Africa for the multinational company, Orica. Her career spans over 25 years in senior roles in the energy, oil and gas and mining industries in both developed and developing markets. She has also held non-executive director positions in energy and healthcare sectors and early in her career, worked in policy and public affairs for the Government of Western Australia. In her first BBMC Yearbook piece, Michelle writes about the delicate balancing act our industry finds itself traversing, and our need to vent – in the right way.

You don’t know me but if you did, you would realise I don’t tend to publicly vent. I have a close circle of trusted colleagues with whom I can let off a little steam but mostly - I’m a thinker, and always have been.

When I make important decisions in my life, I get a piece of paper and put a line down the middle and consider the pros and cons. This is my father. He told me that all important decisions in life, no matter how emotional, need to be made dispassionately. So here we are. Talking about coal - dispassionately. Interestingly, my observation is that ‘coalies’ are as passionate as ‘anti-coalies’. I am sure many would not appreciate that comparison. But in the short time I have been in this role – and from my global balcony – it is what I see.

So, we have an opportunity to make a compelling case for coal and, as I often say, raise the Coal IQ. But, if I were to give any advice, it’s not to vent publicly or quietly. Just speak up, and passionately, in support of your business and chart the change that will need to occur, so you continue to be in it.

Over my last three years as CEO, I have spent an enormous amount of time looking, learning, and listening about the challenges and complexities of the coal business.

I have visited coal plants the world over - facilities of every type and definition – from the aged and retiring, to the gleamingly new and emissions-free. I have spoken with WCA members, other participants along the coal value chain, potential new members, governments, academics, scientists, journalists, investors, financiers and critics. Here’s the one thing I know for sure: The majority of us agree, that regardless of what you think about the science, there is an overwhelming global desire to decarbonise. And, so we must, because that is what the majority have voted in favour of. And with that premise (and promise), it is time to take a customer-centric approach.

The Other Shoe

Consistent with my rational and bilateral upbringing (Eastern European/Asian/ Australian), I have always tried to keep an open mind when I assess any given issue or problem. When in doubt, I put myself in the other’s shoe to try and see things from another perspective. I believe this has been helpful to my work with the WCA and allowed me to speak on behalf of coal in a way that is factual and realistic.

Unfortunately, good sense, fact and realism are things which seem to be slipping farther away as the climate debate becomes more entrenched and extreme.

There is so much being said and done to coal’s detriment, even with the shoe on the other foot, I believe it is time to get a microphone. The problem is, no-one really wants to hand you one and when they finally do, it can have the hallmarks of a failed karaoke attempt. Simply put, if I don’t, and we don’t as a collaborative coal community, speak up and raise the volume, our opportunities will diminish and coal’s right to survive and thrive will become much harder.

Coal Complacency

For far too long, we have sat back and allowed the anti-coal lobby to kill coal by a thousand cuts. There’s an apathy in the industry which concerns me. I think there has long been a belief that eventually the penny will drop and people will finally understand coal in all its complexity – particularly the fact that you cannot simply eradicate coal and replace it with renewables. "Getting it” is an assumption that people understand everything that sits behind the flick of light switch, a cheap electricity bill, the bridge and road you rode to work on, the manufacturing job that supports your energy intensive industry, the royalties paid to the government to support schools, hospitals and other social infrastructure, the regional towns that exist because of you - and the list goes on.

Here’s something to consider which may feel very contrarian. If you can just shut out the noise for a while – what would you think needs to be done? What would allow the coal industry to switch gears from ‘survive’ to ‘thrive’? With this context, the World Coal Association has embarked on a comprehensive initiative to communicate coal’s attributes in a much more proactive and positive way. Our Members, as responsible and innovative participants of the coal value chain, are responsible and committed to playing a pivotal part in putting the world on a safer, cleaner, more sustainable footing.

Building Awareness and Raising the “Coal IQ”

As a result, we have embarked on a campaign that is raising the level of awareness and understanding about “Brand Coal” through wide engagement and collaboration. Over the past year, we have been exhaustive in our dialogue with industry, government, investors, climate change science and the media, as we set about raising the Coal IQ. We have badged this engagement under a variety of taglines from the “Clean Coal Conversation” to “Come Clean.” I have appeared, mostly “virtually,” in seminars and summits from Moscow to Melbourne, Jakarta to Johannesburg, Tokyo to Bogota – and everywhere in between. The conversation has followed similar themes and trajectories, all of them focused on communicating the evolving nature of coal to a bigger and broader constituency.

This “conversation” has been consistent with the WCA’s Evolving Coal Strategy which is aimed at raising the level of awareness and understanding about coal’s essential contribution to reaching a sustainable, net zero emission future. This has surprised a number of people who did not realise that responsible coal participants all along the coal value chain are just as concerned about global warming as anyone else. At the end of the day, who doesn’t want clean air and clear skies? As part of this program, we have stressed our commitment to achieving Paris climate change targets but by doing so in a way that does not leave anyone behind. We have underscored the importance of deploying the raft of clean coal technologies which are available, notably, High Efficiency Low Emissions (HELE), Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Coal to Hydrogen, while also ensuring that developing countries are still able to progress economically and socially. We have surprised numerous stakeholders by expressing our allegiance to renewables while acknowledging, as reputable climate science has, that renewables cannot be expected to do everything. Because, quite simply, the wind and the sun are not always performing at peak.

Evolving Coal promotes investment in a raft of clean coal technologies which are proven, widely available and supported by climate science as necessary to achieving climate change targets. At every turn, we have supported our dialogues with irrefutable facts and indefatigable realism. For instance, coal opponents have failed to recognise or acknowledge that coal remains the building block of modernisation, the core component to 70% of the world’s steel, 90% of the world’s cement and 61% of global aluminium. We have emphasised that steel, cement and aluminium are intrinsic to the construction of renewables infrastructure.

Every wind turbine that is constructed requires 170 tonnes of coking coal. Remember what I said about fact and realism?

Sustainability and Sovereignty

We are also standing up and challenging those who claim that coal is in its last days. Quite simply, it isn’t. Coal remains critical to energy supply in more than 80 countries and according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in The Global Energy Outlook (2021), it will still be the world’s largest single source of electricity in 2040. As the global population grows (to a predicted 10 billion urban dwellers by 2050), it is realistic to expect coal demand to remain high.

For far too long, we have sat back and allowed the anti-coal lobby to kill coal by a thousand cuts. There’s an apathy in the industry which concerns me.

Our challenge is to transition to cleaner technologies without interfering with society's fabric and people's right to a quality of life. The welfare and livelihood of each country and its people must take ultimate priority. It is not appropriate for the self-righteous West to dictate how the rest live.

There are currently almost 800 million people without the heat and light which coal energy can provide. Energy is a sovereignty issue, and we must respect the rights of every country to create the best pathway for its people. Every country is at a different starting point, and we cannot expect everyone to arrive at the same finish line at the same time.

As an Association, we are genuinely concerned about the pressure developing countries are facing to conform to Global North “norms”. They know what they have to do and each of them is addressing their energy needs and decarbonisation commitments differently. This must be respected. I have not seen or spoken to one single leader or dignitary from a developing country who is not wholeheartedly committed to eliminating CO2 emissions. However, they are pragmatic enough to know this cannot happen overnight. As I keep saying: “We can’t just switch off all the lights tonight and magically wake up to a coal-free existence tomorrow.”

These are the points I have been reiterating over the past year, and they are being well received.

Partnership and Collaboration

But we are not simply talking the talk, we are walking it too. This year, we have entered into major new partnerships to advance coal’s clean aspirations. In Indonesia, we have entered into a partnership with the ASEAN Coal Centre (ACE) to mobilise countries, companies and communities towards cleaner coal outcomes.

In September the WCA and ASEAN ACE released its first major research project, a report called ‘Clean Coal Technology in ASEAN – Balancing Equity, Security & Sustainability.’ This report found that ASEAN countries will require approximately 234 GW of new coal capacity by 2040 to meet growing energy demand, but with modest investment in clean coal technologies there is capacity to significantly cut emissions. In October, we signed a formative Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Financial University’s Center of Sectoral Research and Consulting (CSRC), aimed at furthering clean coal studies in Russia.

These studies will include examination of the impact of clean coal technologies, including High Efficiency Low Emissions (HELE) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), on economic development, employment, renewables, and the power sector. In Australia, we are supporting the energy technology transition which is underway.

We have surprised numerous stakeholders by expressing our allegiance to renewables while acknowledging, as reputable climate science has, that renewables cannot be expected to do everything.

Victoria’s Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) is already giving us a glimpse into the clean coal future by turning brown coal into clean hydrogen and exporting it to Japan. Our member, Glencore, is demonstrating CCUS on an industrial scale at its coal-fired station at Milmerran, while also assessing potential for an integrated CCUS hub in the Surat Basin.

The impetus is there, we simply need the policy support and industry incentivisation which are critical to reaching “Paris” and all of the cities in between.

A Changing Tide?

This leaves us, still, with a mountain of work to do. With more than 1000 coal plants under construction and a massive coal fleet in global operation, we need to do everything we can to deploy the arsenal of clean technologies at our disposal. Not only HELE, and Coal to Hydrogen, but also Coal Gasification, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), Coal to Biomass CoCombustion, and Pollution Control Technology. We need to adopt “everything” as the Paris Articles intended. We still have a massive challenge ahead to change the rhetoric from “phasing-out coal” to “phasing-in new technology.”

As the year ended, there were signs that coal’s reputation might be changing and that recognition was creeping in about the need for coal as a reliable and sustainable commodity. The world re-emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery resumed. In a peculiar paradox, Britain and Europe emerged from a largely “windless” summer and coal plants were restarted to provide reliable and affordable energy supply as winter approached. Gas demand also increased, creating a spike in prices and a logjam of supplies across Britain.

A Perfect Storm

As this “perfect storm” unfolded, Government leaders descended on the G20 in Rome, then COP26 in Glasgow. We witnessed the same old polarising positioning between the pro-coal and anti-coal camps, but there was a changing rhetoric emerging. Leaders across Asia and Africa committed to decarbonisation but not at the expense of economic and social progress. But it was not just the developing world which was refusing to exit coal. Leaders from Australia, Russia, and Saudi Arabia maintained that coal was still relevant to their sustainability. Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison said (as we do), that Australia was not interested in fuel discriminating “mandates and bans”, and that the best way forward is through deployment of clean technologies. OECD General Secretary, Mathias Cormann, said (as we do), that different countries have different pathways to reaching climate change targets and we need a transition which is “effective and fair” to all nations.

As encouraging as this is, there is still more to do. Coal participants need to stand up and be counted in a world which is prejudiced and popularist in its energy outlook. We need to ensure that the whole of coal supply chain stands together and presents the rational, factual, human face of coal. Climate change is not about “popularism.” It is about “populationism.”

That is where you come in. We want to keep conscripting a new army of courageous coal titans who know that coal has a place in delivering a sustainable, net zero emission future. Coal needs to rally itself in the same way as the coal opposition, and fight for the good of coal in keeping economies and people in forward motion.

In short, we need to show verve and vision through logic and reason. Coal is a 3000-year-old industry, so we know what we are talking about. So, let’s talk about it. It’s time to vent better. We hope you will join us on this journey. 