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April 09, 2004
it's an upside down world '
The problem faced by the national electricity market is that the generation of electricity from brown coal in a highly polluting process.
This method of generation produces a lot of CO2 gases which contribute to global warming.
Paul Harris, The Loy Yang power station in Traralgon, La Trobe Valley, Victoria.
The Federal Government's response to the sustainability issue? It refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol and is defending the coal and aluminium industry at all costs. The Australian renewable energy sector has no government funds for research and development, whilst millions is now going into carbon storage technology--geosequestration--- that will bury CO2 gases underground.
It's a subsidy for an unsustainable industry. Melissa Fyfe says that:
"The technology cannot be attached to existing power stations, such as those in the Latrobe Valley. It is also expensive. The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated putting CO2 underground could cost between $US45 and $US50 ($A57-$A63) a tonne. This may make coal-based electricity more expensive to produce than wind-powered electricity, one of the more pricey renewable options."
So much for the Howard Government's commitment to market efficiency and competitive markets. It is really about market protection and corporate subsidies
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at April 9, 2004 05:19 PM
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