Australia has access to abundant gas, wind, solar, geothermal, wave and biomass energy sources. In combination with energy efficiency measures, this means Australia shouldn’t consider any new conventional coal-fired power station without a working carbon capture and storage facility (CCS).
Australia should commit to no new coal power stations
Australia is the highest greenhouse gas polluter, on a per capita basis, among the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
This is because most of our electricity is currently produced by coal-fired power stations, making coal the number one source of pollution in our country.
Australia has access to abundant gas, wind, solar, geothermal, wave and biomass energy sources. When coupled with energy efficiency measures, this means Australia shouldn’t consider any new conventional coal-fired power station without a working
Carbon Capture and Storage facility (CCS).
A new ultra super-critical 700MW black coal-fired power station (pollution profile of 738 kgCO2e/Mwh) would lock in significant pollution over its lifetime of more than 30 years. It would release approximately 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere and
increase Australia’s annual emissions by 0.7%, severely undermining our long-term objectives to reduce pollution and avoid dangerous climate change.
Natural gas can be used as a “bridging fuel”. Its use avoids locking in new coal-fired power stations and provides significant carbon savings in the shorter term, while other energy sources and technologies are developed and rendered cheaper.
Alternatives to coal-fired power in Australia
There are currently 11 proposals for new conventional coal-fired power stations in Australia . Immediate action is needed to stop these from going ahead.
State and Federal governments must either:
- Ban new conventional coal-fired power stations that don’t have CCS at start-up
- Implement a pollution standard for new power plants that will prevent coal without carbon capture and storage and encourage cleaner power plants (~450 kg/MWh)
- Put a limit and a price on pollution to make clean renewable energy cheaper.
WWF does not support the approval of new coal-fired power stations based on them being CCS “ready’.
While WWF is advocating the large-scale demonstration and commercialisation of CCS as soon as possible, without appropriate policies and funding it could be more than 10 years before CCS is commercial. In this time Australia could lock in decades of high polluting coal-fired power before it is deemed CCS ready.
