Australia's mining industry is using a quarter more diesel than it did four years ago just to achieve the same output, despite fuel shortages crippling the nation.
Every major Australian coal mining company is using more fuel now than in 2021/22, modelling from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis shows.
But even as the price of diesel skyrockets due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, fuel intensity rates are locked in, due to Australia's mining sector not yet having the ability to move to alternatives.
Workers also have to dig deeper in open-cut mines to reach coal seams than they did in previous years.
With large volumes of dirt and rock having to be removed, more fuel is burned as a result
