[Greens-Media] The oxymoron has landed

[John Kaye]

The oxymoron has landed
 
Media Release: 26 September 2007
 
Plans to develop a pilot carbon capture 'clean coal' facility at Munmorah Power Station on the NSW Central Coast are nothing but an exercise in propaganda, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.
 
Dr Kaye said: "NSW Energy Minister Ian Macdonald announced a pilot plant this afternoon that might eventually lead to a larger pilot plant, which at best would capture a tiny 1.5% of the CO2 emissions from the power station.
 
"Even if the first mini-pilot and then the subsequent pilot were successful, Munmorah would still be emitting 98.5% of its current CO2 output.
 
"This is an extraordinarily long way from the genuine reductions in this state's greenhouse gas emissions needed to avoid runaway climate damage.
 
"The Minister's announcement has nothing to do with genuinely reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
 
"It has much more to do with helping the coal industry to perpetuate the 'clean coal' myth that carbon capture and storage is a promising response to climate change.
 
"After Ian Macdonald's cabinet colleague, Environment and Climate Change Minister Phil Koperberg, attacked the notion of 'clean coal', describing it as 'almost an oxymoron' on Monday, the Iemma government is struggling to retain credibility on emissions.
 
"Minister Macdonald's announcement is a ham-fisted attempt to regain the momentum that is doomed to failure.
 
"Toy pilot plants like this are dwarfed by the massive emissions from the electricity industry.
 
"In 2005, electricity generation in NSW was responsible for 57.8 million tonnes of CO2, most of which came from the burning of coal.
 
"There is no way that carbon capture can address this quantity of gas in any realistic timescale and Minister Macdonald is smart enough to know it.
 
"The Iemma government should stop wasting time on propaganda for the coal industry and invest in real technologies like energy efficiency and renewable energy," Dr Kaye said. 
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 
 
 
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John Kaye
Greens member of the NSW Parliament
phone: (02) 9230 2668
fax: (02) 9230 2586
mobile: 0407 195 455
email: john.kaye at parliament.nsw.gov.au
web: www.johnkaye.org.au
 
mail: Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000