[bigiain]

I sometimes wonder how directly some of the big flashy renewable energy projects in Australia are funded by coal exports to China...

[threeseed]

But it's offset by Australia being able to validate approaches e.g. South Australia's battery.

[Cthulhu_]

Yeah, unlike e.g. European countries or US states, Australia is an island and they can't import / export electricity or connect grids easily.

[adrianN]

I was under the impression that China had large coal deposits of its own. Do they really import a lot of coal?

[shakna]

Yes, but not for power generation. The majority of Australia's coal exports are metallurgical coal, for manufacturing. Australia owns about 58% of the global trade for metallurgical coal, which means everyone imports it from us.