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Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham said today:
“The ESAA report which suggests that so-called ‘clean coal’ and nuclear power are the way to tackle climate change is both unfortunate and predictable.
“The ESAA represents the large coal-fired generators. It protects the businesses of dirty power stations and ESAA members like Hazelwood and Loy Yang power stations to propose two technologies which are controversial, expensive, would take decades to introduce, and in the case of carbon capture and storage, does not yet exist commercially.
“The largest threat to polluting coal-fired power stations is energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. In the European Union 30% of new electricity generating capacity built over the past 5 years has been wind power. The ESAA ignores renewable energy because it threatens the market share of coal and gas generators- this is also the reason that the fossil fuel industry opposes any renewable energy targets.
“Energy efficiency is largely ignored in the ESAA scenario as it presents the most immediate threat to inefficient coal-fired power stations. If Australia used energy as efficiently as it is used in Europe or Japan we could turn off Hazelwood power station immediately.
“Greenpeace represents neither the fossil fuel industry or the renewable energy industry, but in our international experience renewable energy and energy efficiency will be the cheapest, fastest and safest way for Australia to reduce our greenhouse pollution.
“The ESAA’s biased approach has led it to support clean coal technology which does not exist and when developed may never actually keep carbon in the ground, and the nuclear option which is dangerous, expensive and never safe.”
“The ESAA report which suggests that so-called ‘clean coal’ and nuclear power are the way to tackle climate change is both unfortunate and predictable.
“The ESAA represents the large coal-fired generators. It protects the businesses of dirty power stations and ESAA members like Hazelwood and Loy Yang power stations to propose two technologies which are controversial, expensive, would take decades to introduce, and in the case of carbon capture and storage, does not yet exist commercially.
“The largest threat to polluting coal-fired power stations is energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. In the European Union 30% of new electricity generating capacity built over the past 5 years has been wind power. The ESAA ignores renewable energy because it threatens the market share of coal and gas generators- this is also the reason that the fossil fuel industry opposes any renewable energy targets.
“Energy efficiency is largely ignored in the ESAA scenario as it presents the most immediate threat to inefficient coal-fired power stations. If Australia used energy as efficiently as it is used in Europe or Japan we could turn off Hazelwood power station immediately.
“Greenpeace represents neither the fossil fuel industry or the renewable energy industry, but in our international experience renewable energy and energy efficiency will be the cheapest, fastest and safest way for Australia to reduce our greenhouse pollution.
“The ESAA’s biased approach has led it to support clean coal technology which does not exist and when developed may never actually keep carbon in the ground, and the nuclear option which is dangerous, expensive and never safe.”
