I wonder if the Aussie figures include the underground coal fire that's supposedly been burning for several thousand years. (?)
The electric utility whose application for permits for two new coal-fired generating plants in Kansas was recently rejected has been running ads - two full pages per day - in the local newsrags to try to sell the idea that "coal is clean."
They've claimed "we can clean the CO2 emissions up with algae." The only problem is that their application mentioned no emissions reduction efforts, and the only "algae processing" project known is a pilot/test installation capable of handling the output from about three cigars and one propane lighter.
They've also claimed "One underground fire in China produces as much CO2 as all of the automobiles in the United States," but an article in Smithsonian Magazine, which usually does pretty good verification, said about a year ago that all of the underground fires in China produce the equivalent of about ONE PERCENT of worldwide CO2 emissions.
Elected officials here have promised to change the law to prohibit the Commissioner who rejected the license from ever doing anything again; but the good guy who said no is NOT AN ELECTED OFFICIAL - - - so they'll likely just appoint a replacement soon.