Battle of the greens flares up fueled by coal

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 16 April 2008 15:57

Science - Energy

Greenpeace and the Australian Greens believe carbon capture and storage technology as it stands is unproven and any government backed move to devote funds into cleaning up coal power emissions is diverting funds away from the development of renewable energy technologies.

The two green groups are livid that their environmental brethren, WWF and the Climate Institute have formed an alliance with industry peak body the Australian Coal Association and the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union) to push the carbon sequestration cause with Rudd Labour Government.

However, the WWF and Climate Institute are more pragmatic than the environmental hardliners, accepting that Australia is currently 80% powered by coal, earns tens of billions in coal exports annually, and therefore needs to consider a diverse range of options including carbon capture and storage in order to cut carbon emissions.