Yes you are correct in that it is partly due to government revenue raising. The fact of the matter is Victoria holds one of the world's largest deposits of brown coal. This deposit is required for domestic supply and is so large that export would provide a huge boom to the state. However, brown coal is a very dirty, volatile yet very cheap to mine. That is why cost effective coal conversion from brown to black substitute is the best answer for both domestic supply and export markets when considering emissions.
You are incorrect in saying that these export projects are intending to export raw brown coal. This is a lie perpetrated by the Greens.
Read below for the facts:
Exergen and CSIRO collaborate on low emission power generation technology
7th December 2009
Exergen and CSIRO have entered a 2 year $500,000 development agreement to advance the use of Exergen treated coal as a fuel source in Direct Injection Coal Engines for power generation.
Large scale diesel engines are commercially available (up to nearly 100 MW), development of these as Direct Injection Coal Engines (DICE) are expected to be flexible and adaptable (to enable a rapid start to supply peaking and shoulder electricity to the market) and can underpin base power supply at remote locations such as sub-bituminous coal mines.
The DICE is predicted to achieve thermal efficiencies of 47 percent using brown coal transformed by Exergen's Continuous HydroThermal De-watering (CHTD) process.
This is a much higher thermal efficiency than existing brown coal power stations and could lead to dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (in excess of 40%) compared to existing average Latrobe Valley generator performance.
Studies suggest Direct Injection Coal Engines fed by Exergen's CHTD treated coal would have a similar carbon footprint as an open cycle gas turbine used for peak power generation.
