Heidi Kraak
It makes no sense for governments to invest in new coal and risk taxpayers’ money, Climate Councillor and energy expert Professor Andrew Stock says.
Professor Stock made the comments to reporters in Melbourne following the release of a Climate Council report, titled End of the Line: Coal in Australia, which argues there is no such thing as ‘clean coal’.
“New coal power is more expensive than renewables coupled with storage,” Professor Stock said.
“That is why around the world and in Australia we are seeing companies and investors back renewables rather than coal.
“Coal, effectively, is un-investible today.”
The report comes after Nationals leader Peter Walsh declared the construction of a high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) plant as party policy and said he had held discussions with companies which revealed they were interested in building a new coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley “if the policy settings are correct”.
It also comes after Latrobe City Council advocated retaining a section of the Hazelwood mine void for future coal winning.
The report states that 95 per cent of Australia’s coal reserves must stay in the ground in order to avoid “dangerous climate change”.
“We can’t afford to keep burning coal,” Professor Stock said.
“We need to keep coal in the ground and we can’t afford to rely on these unreliable old coal clunkers to deliver power for the next decade. “New coal pollutes. It adds to climate change risk and it is a bad investment; so risking taxpayers’ funds on new coal is pure folly.”
Professor Stock said Australia needed a power system consisting of renewables coupled with storage.
“What we need to do is plan for a transition away from coal sooner rather than later,” he said.
“Build the renewable capacity and storage now and not put it off, not put the brakes on it.”
The Climate Council report stated Australia’s coal resources “are so vast” that utilising them would consume two-thirds of the entire global carbon budget.
“Despite hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in ‘clean coal’ technology in Australia over the past two decades, no commercially viable project has ever been developed,” the report reads.
“The estimated cost of building a coal power station with CCS in Australia is over six times the equivalent cost of Australia’s largest wind farm. To view the report, visit climatecouncil.org.au/resources/coal-in-australia/.
