'Clean coal' not viable until 2030

It's been the white knight of government rhetoric for years, but now financial issues have compounded environmental and engineering problems surrounding the development of carbon capture and storage in Australia.

New modeling from the Australian Government's Global CCS institute last week noted that commercialisation of 'clean coal' technology will not be viable until the cost of carbon rises to at least $60 per tonne, a situation not expected until 2030. Lack of government and industry backing for the technology has meant that the well-touted roll-out of CCS has been reduced to investment in several 'demonstration' plants over the next decade, with very little support from the coal industry itself in the venture.

Meanwhile, with State Governments across Australia increasingly focused on ramping up coal exports over the coming decade, any movement forward on CCS will be negated by foreign emissions fuelled by cheap and dirty Australian coal.

It is becoming abundantly clear that CCS can not play an effective role in reducing global carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 and that continued reliance on coal use is stifling investment and research into renewable energy resources in both Australia and abroad.