Concerns for the future of Hunter Valley coal mining, despite it driving the local economy
Inside Singleton's Diggers club, Hunter Valley residents are debating the future of the world's coal industry.
- Overseas demand for Australian coal remains strong but there are signs of shifting global investment
- More than 100 major financiers have withdrawn from thermal coal projects over five years
- The Minerals Council of Australia says the nation's coal is needed in developing countries
Coal is the big employer in this region with 40 different mines employing about 9,000 workers to drive the local economy, in turn helping Australia generate billions in export revenue.
But as some countries signal a move away from coal, miners cap production and the industry remains almost permanently under the political spotlight, there is concern here that the mining industry in the Hunter is at the crossroads.
Those fears have come despite data from the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) predicting demand for the region's coal to increase in the next 20 years.
Holding the microphone inside the club is Carl Shoupe, a third-generation coal-miner from the United States town of Benham in Harlan County, Kentucky.
"In 2012, everything was going real good," he told the crowd of community leaders.
"The coal market was going good [and] boom, they just up and left."
Visiting the region on invitation from environmental activist group Lock The Gate, the former US Marine and Vietnam War veteran worked underground for decades as a miner and union organiser.
He has experienced tough times, and today struggles to walk following injuries from a mine cave-in.
His son Scott, who worked as a miner for 20 years, is accompanying him on the tour.
Scott Shoupe worked for 20 years as a miner, rising through the ranks to become a site manager with American coal miner Alpha Natural Resources.
Then the US downturn struck in late 2012.
He told the audience how his company closed eight mines in one day after "profits dropped" and "markets shifted to cleaner energy" such as natural gas and renewables.
"We laid off roughly 3,500 people in a day," he said.
"And from that point until June or July next year there were 10,000 jobs, coal industry jobs, that were gone in the State of Kentucky."
In north-east America, hundreds of mines have since closed, leaving workers in small towns struggling to find new jobs in different industries.
Scott Shoupe said at the time Kentucky lacked any transition plan or government support for sacked miners.
"There was no Plan B, it was up and go and there you are left with your hands open," he said.
He now works for a green energy provider, helping homeowners install insulation and solar panels.
The coal market's future
While overseas demand for Australian coal remains strong, there are warnings global investment is shifting.
A recent report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said over five years more than 100 major financiers have withdrawn from thermal coal projects.
IEEFA is a not-for-profit institute, funded through philanthropy, with a focus on green technologies and renewable energy.
Last month energy giant Glencore, a Hunter Valley investor, announced it was capping coal production in response to global warming.
Electricity market and coal analyst Tim Buckley said the trend towards renewables would continue long term, and communities like Singleton faced a harsh transition.
"The Hunter Valley is probably one of the most exposed communities, economies and states in the world to this long-term zero thermal coal use trajectory," he said.
Other experts tell a different story.
Coal industry sources think exports to Asia will generate new jobs and growth in the Hunter Valley for decades to come.
Data from the MCA predicts global energy demand — including coal power — will climb 66 per cent in the next two decades.
Chief executive officer Tania Constable said Australian coal was needed in developing countries, to provide baseload power.
"India's per capita electricity consumption, currently one-tenth that of Australia, is expected to double by 2030," she said.
While the supportive of the move to low emissions technologies, Ms Constable cautioned that batteries were in their "infancy".
She said policy makers should base their decisions on maintaining the "highly paid, highly skilled jobs" and "valuable export income" provided by mining.