The debate about climate change is over… so let’s invest in real solutions!

It is generally accepted that climate change is happening now, and that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, particularly oil and coal, are major contributors. The tactics of the coal industry and their supporters have shifted accordingly. Instead of denying that climate change is happening, they are now claiming that coal burning can continue anyway because the greenhouse pollution produced can simply be buried underground. This process is known as carbon capture and storage (CCS) or geo-sequestration.

Unfortunately, CCS is an unproven, expensive technology that is unlikely to be ready in time to stop power plants that burn coal, here or overseas, contributing to runaway climate change,.

The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world’s leading scientific body on climate change. A new IPCC report showed the many limitations with CCS. Firstly, the IPCC report estimates that by 2050 only about 30-60% of emissions from electricity generation will be technically suitable for capture. And even for the power stations that are suitable, CCS can at best only sequester 80-90% of their emissions.

As a result, if the projected increases in power plant construction in the next 50-100 years are borne out, then, even widespread use of CCS, would see emissions from the global electricity sector continue to climb. The Australian-based Transition Institute has estimated that if fossil fuels with CCS were used to meet energy needs in the Asia Pacific by 2050, and 85% of all emissions were captured, emissions would still rise by over 70%, instead of being reduced!

CCS promoters claim that CCS will be ready within 10 years. It may be ready theoretically, but will it be used? The IPCC estimates that the majority of CCS deployment will only take place in the second half of this century, and thinks that by 2020 CCS may only be capturing 9-12% of global CO2 emissions, and by 2050 as little as 21%. This is too little too late.

So how is it that this dubious technological fix is receiving massive political and financial support from the Australian Government, at the expense of more sustainable renewable energy research in solar, wind and geothermal? Four Corners, the ABC’s current affairs program, (13/02/06) gave an indication of the politics at play, when it revealed how a small group of executives from the coal, oil, cement, aluminium, mining and electricity industry associations - who actually call themselves the Greenhouse Mafia – boast that they have vetted and written Federal Cabinet submissions and ministerial briefings on energy and greenhouse, and driven government policy development for a decade. 

The fossil fuel insiders have successfully lobbied the Australian Government to stifle mandatory renewal energy targets, keep Australia out of the Kyoto Protocol, and delay engagement in carbon emission trading markets, each one a policy initiative that could dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Why would a utility invest in expensive CCS technology if there is weak policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and no agreement to put a price on carbon emissions? As the IPCC says “… in the absence of measures for limiting CO2 emissions, there are only small, niche opportunities for CCS technologies….”

The CSIRO, Australia’s premier scientific research organization, is another battleground for which research agenda is promoted. The Federal Government has stacked the CSIRO’s governing board with appointees from the coal and oil industry, and the organisation’s energy research priority has been refocused onto the quest of ‘clean coal’ and CCS technologies. CSIRO scientists expressing concern about climate change have been muzzled,

Even if Australia builds power plants with CCS in the future, they are unlikely to be built in the Hunter, Australia’s largest coal-fired power production centre, where almost 80% of NSW electricity is generated, from six coal-fired plants. Reports show a lack of suitable sites for sequestration within 500kms of the power stations in the Hunter Valley, making it likely that new power stations fitted with CCS will be commercially infeasible at the existing locations.

Nonetheless, it is will be a struggle to convince the Australian or NSW government to decide that the lack of viable CCS technology should be a compelling argument for phasing out coal-fired power generation and coal mining in the the Hunter Valley (and other coal-affected communities in Australia). The industry is continuing to campaign for the massive expansion of open-cut or long-wall mines, even though the resulting the degradation of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity and displacement of  communities is jeopardising local sustainability. 

The high cost and dubious technical viability of CCS means that the East Asian power plants that Australian coal is exported to, are also unlikely to have CCS technology.  So, Australian coal is likely to remain a significant contributor to climate change, locally and globally.

CCS is not a realistic solution to climate change. Billions of dollars is being thrown at an illusion of a solution to prop up coal exports and the profits of the few companies that profit from coal exports. This is a wasteful hijacking of precious human and financial resources. Funds are needed for real clean energy solutions, including renewable energy, refitting houses, schools, offices and workplaces for energy efficiency and conservation.

The coal industry is using CCS to head off real action on climate change.  It is trying to lull the community into a false sense of security. Instead of propping up coal we need a really bold alternative vision, and a plan for making a transition to a sustainable Australia beyond coal. For coal communities, like the Hunter, the Latrobe and the Bowen Basin, we need investment in a just transition to a healthy economy based on clean energy industries and secure jobs for all.

Geoff Evans is a Newcastle-based director of the Mineral Policy Institute and researches just transitions to sustainable futures. A version of this article was published in the Newcastle Herald in May 2006

For more information, please contact:

Geoff Evans

Created: 01 Aug 2006 | Last updated: 01 Aug 2006

This page: http://www.mpi.org.au/ campaigns/climate/ccs/

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