Clean coal a dangerous distraction

Dr Kaye said: “None of the so-called clean coal technologies are commercially viable.

“Creating very low or no emissions coal-fired generating technologies will be very difficult if not impossible. Putting scarce public research and development funds into this high risk research would squander money on boosting the already swollen profits of the coal corporations. 

“The Iemma government should be backing the low carbon technologies that have already proven track records. These include wind, solar thermal, crop wastes and energy efficiency.

“They should also be putting research funding into technologies that show promise but do not already have backers with deep pockets. These include geothermal hot rocks and solar photovoltaics.

“Public money should not be squandered on technologies that have a high probability of never working and already have very wealthy commercial supporters.

“If the coal companies are worried about the future of their product, they should invest their money in experiments with carbon capture and storage.

“They can afford to take the risk that the money will be wasted.

“The coal industry spends a lot of their public relations budget touting the virtues of clean coal technologies. It is now time for them to listen to the IPCC’s Dr Pachauri and put their money where their mouths are. 

“The coal industry’s existing commitment is tiny. They are spending less than 0.3% of the money they make on selling each tonne of coal mined in NSW on clean coal experiments.

“Those who stand to make massive profits out of clean coal should put up the risk capital to conduct the experiments,” Dr Kaye said.