[Greens-Media] Otways carbon storage pointless PR, bad Budget decision / Ferguson out of line on coal, uranium

[Hollo, Tim (Sen C. Milne)]

Otways carbon storage pointless PR, bad Budget decision

Hobart, Wednesday 2 April 2008  Australian Greens climate change
spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, today called on the Rudd
Government to stop paying polluters by subsidising projects such as the
Otways carbon storage project being opened today.

Senator Milne said "The Otways project is yet another attempt to
demonstrate the safety of carbon storage while bypassing the really
difficult aspect of proving that carbon can be effectively and
affordably captured at coal fired power stations.

"The storage of CO2 stripped from natural gas that will be done at the
Otways is tiny in comparison to similar projects that are already being
done overseas and will add little to our understanding of whether carbon
can indeed be stored permanently and nothing to our understanding of
whether significant carbon capture is possible.

"Years after being first proposed as Australia's carbon solution, there
has still been no pilot plant demonstration of capture technology. Like
cold fusion and 'Generation 4' nuclear power, carbon capture is always
just over the horizon, while renewable energy technologies move ahead in
leaps and bounds, even without the tremendous government support.

 "The leader of the Otways project, Peter Cook, has admitted that this
technology will always be too expensive to retrofit onto existing old
power stations and new infrastructure will need to be built. If that is
the case, surely we should leapfrog straight into the renewable energy
technologies which don't create pollution in the first place.
 
"The Otways project is government-funded PR for the coal sector and
would be a perfect place to start for a government looking to find
Budget cuts.

"Instead of paying polluters to keep being able to justify their
existence, the Government should use its first Budget to shift funding
away from coal, oil and roads across to renewable energy, energy
efficiency and public transport."

Ferguson out of line on coal, uranium

Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy, is undermining any
credibility the Rudd Government has on climate change, Senator Milne
warned, and must be pulled into line.

Senator Milne said, "While the Prime Ministerial cat is away, the mice
will play, and Martin Ferguson is taking the opportunity to raise his
environmentally destructive flag once again.

"Martin Ferguson's vision that we can run our car fleet on liquidised
coal is undoubtedly playing a key role in his proud support of the
Otways project. He is fast-tracking funding to this horrendously
polluting transport fuel while his Rudd Government colleagues talk up
their commitment to climate action.

"Ferguson has also taken the opportunity of Prime Minister Rudd's
overseas trip to resurrect the Howard Government's Uranium Industry
Framework, pushing the boundaries on an issue that has already
threatened to split the ALP. Mr Rudd must pull him into line."

Contact: Tim Hollo on 0437 587 562

Notes:

*	The Otways project will attempt to store some 100,000 tonnes of
CO2 stripped from natural gas over the course of 18 months.
*	In comparison, a similar project in Algeria being undertaken by
BP is storing around 1,000,000 tonnes each year.
*	The other major storage projects, Sleipner and Snohvit in
Norway, also involve storing CO2 stripped from natural gas.
*	There is no project anywhere in the world storing CO2 stripped
from coal at power stations.

*	The dreams of effective geosequestration were dealt a
significant blow earlier this year when plans for the world's first
integrated carbon capture and storage project, FutureGen in the USA,
were put on hold due to being well over budget and behind schedule. The
Australian Government had invested in FutureGen.
*	The ZeroGen project in Queensland, Australia's pin up for
demonstrating carbon capture, is still several years from commissioning.

*	There are a raft of major issues with liability for potential
leakage that are yet to be worked through. With an issue that will
require permanent storage, will companies or governments bear the
long-term liability?

*	Even at best estimates, geosequestration could only capture
70-90% of emissions from coal fired power stations.
*	This means that geosequestration cannot provide a long-term
solution for the complete decarbonisation that is necessary in the
coming decades. It can only provide a very expensive and risky
short-term option.


Tim Hollo
Media and Communications Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
+61 (0)2 6277 3063
+61 (0) 437 587 562
www.christinemilne.org.au

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