Coal news and updates

Research touted by the resources minister that reportedly suggests Australia can rely on coal to meet emissions reduction has been attacked by experts and appears to have been misreported.

 

The Australian reported on Tuesday that research conducted by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science – and commissioned by Matt Canavan, the federal minister for resources – showed Australia could cut its emissions by 27% if it replaced its existing coal power stations with the more efficient “ultra-supercritical” technology.

 

If true, that would get the country close to its 2030 target, which is a reduction of 28% below 2005 levels.

 

However, a summary of the analysis seen by Guardian Australia suggests the new coal technology – under a very expensive demolition and construction program – could reduce Australia’s emissions by 12% at most.

 

In fact, to reduce Australia’s emissions by 27% by relying on reductions in the electricity industry alone, the sector’s emissionswould need to be reduced to almost zero. Australia’s entire electricity sector only accounts for about a third of its carbon emissions.

On the basis of the analysis, Canavan released a statement attacking “people who oppose the coal industry for ideological reasons”.

 

“Coal has an important role to play as Australia, and the rest of the world, reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” he said. “Australia has the resources to be a low-cost and efficient energy superpower. Access to affordable and reliable power underpins our economy and is the key to long-term jobs in the manufacturing sector.”

 

But energy analyst Olivia Kember from the Climate Institute said locking in decades of emissions from new coal generators would jeopardise longer-term commitments made in Paris, including reaching net zero emissions in the second half of the century.

Source: the Guardina.Com