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“This announcement is deeply disappointing. The National Generators Forum has publicly conceded that CCS will not be commercially available, if at all, until at least 2020. To prevent dangerous climate change we need to make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. If CCS isn’t able to contribute within that timeframe it should be taken off the table as a potential solution. It should certainly not be enjoying any funding from the public purse.
“This taskforce would be an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that takes the focus away from the real solutions. We can reduce emissions now by rolling out large-scale renewable energy projects and implementing energy efficiency programs. Public funding should go into supporting solar, wind and other renewable energy technologies in Australia, not some false hope spruiked by the coal industry.
“If wealthy multinational coal companies that are polluting the planet and causing climate change want to experiment with trying to store carbon dioxide underground, they should pay for it themselves.
“The problems with sequestering coal are similar to the problems that make nuclear power unviable: it is too expensive; too slow to implement; unproven in its ability to reduce emissions; the pollution has to be stored forever and leakages are potentially dangerous.
“Fossil fuels already currently receive 28 times more public money than renewables and energy efficiency. This imbalance needs to be redressed.”
On 5th May Greenpeace International will be globally launching a major report on CCS entitled “False Hope: Why carbon capture and storage won’t save the climate".
“This taskforce would be an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that takes the focus away from the real solutions. We can reduce emissions now by rolling out large-scale renewable energy projects and implementing energy efficiency programs. Public funding should go into supporting solar, wind and other renewable energy technologies in Australia, not some false hope spruiked by the coal industry.
“If wealthy multinational coal companies that are polluting the planet and causing climate change want to experiment with trying to store carbon dioxide underground, they should pay for it themselves.
“The problems with sequestering coal are similar to the problems that make nuclear power unviable: it is too expensive; too slow to implement; unproven in its ability to reduce emissions; the pollution has to be stored forever and leakages are potentially dangerous.
“Fossil fuels already currently receive 28 times more public money than renewables and energy efficiency. This imbalance needs to be redressed.”
On 5th May Greenpeace International will be globally launching a major report on CCS entitled “False Hope: Why carbon capture and storage won’t save the climate".
Related Reports
- Pipe Dreams - why Australia is playing a dangerous game by pretending it can clean up coal
February 26, 2007
- False Hope: Report shows why carbon capture and storage won’t save the climate
April 15, 2008
For further information or comment
Louise Clifton Greenpeace communications 0438 204041
