Australian coal projects are in danger of becoming “stranded,” a new report by the University of Oxford warns. The report says Australia has proposals for 89 coal mines which could more than double annual output from about 430 million tons in 2011 to about 980 million tons by 2020. China is seen as a key export market for those projects. But the report, commissioned by HSBC’s Climate Change Center of Excellence, points to the changing nature of China’s outlook for coal and the impacts on resource-rich Australia, currently the world’s largest exporter of coal to China. “China’s demand for coal is changing as a result of environment-related factors, including environmental regulation, developments in cleaner technologies, air pollution, improving energy efficiency, developments in gas markets and political activism,” Ben Caldecott, co-author of the report was quoted as saying by Business Green. “This could lead […]