Is ‘clean coal’ power the answer to Australia’s emissions targets?

‘The only way shifting to ultra-supercritical coal power could meet Australia’s 26-28% climate target is if carbon capture and storage (CCS) were applied’

As Australia’s energy debate heats up, some politicians are calling for cleaner and more efficient coal power stations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told ABC radio on Tuesday that “ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants actually drive down the carbon footprint by up to 40%”.

And last week Resources Minister Matt Canavan referenced a report, as yet not released by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, which claims that Australia can meet its carbon emission targets by replacing existing coal generators with ultra-supercritical coal generation.

So, is this a reasonable strategy to reduce Australia’s emissions?

Read the thoughts by a researcher with the Energy Economics and Management Group at the Global Change Institute from The University ofQueensland, Lynette Molyneaux, on The Conversation - “Is ‘clean coal’ power the answer to Australia’s emissions targets?

(Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) rolls of the lips of Matt Canavan, and others of his ilk, with ease and the implied assumption that it is a understood, tried and tested technology, when it is not and has only been trialled in a few small instances and no one yet knows how the process could be scaled to anything near the size needed to make CCS useful in any sense on a world scale – Robert McLean.)