Australia Unveils Blueprint For Clean Coal
Nov 17, 2008 -- Voice of America News/ContentWorks
A unique program to capture carbon at coal power stations has been unveiled
in Australia. Operators of a demonstration plant say it is the first of its
type in the world and involves burning coal in oxygen rather than air, which
reduces carbon dioxide emissions. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports. The
pilot program in the northern Australian state of Queensland intends to show
that existing power stations can be refitted to burn coal in a far cleaner
way. Over the next four years the technology will be developed and officials
believe it has the potential to be a gift to the world. The system burns
coal in pure oxygen, making it easier for the capture of carbon dioxide,
which many scientists say contributes to a warming planet. The carbon
dioxide is then liquefied and buried deep underground in a process known as
geo-sequestration. Queensland's Mines and Energy minister, Geoff Wilson,
says the project could have significant environmental benefits. "In
traditional coal-fired power stations, the coal is burnt in air in a big
furnace in air and then the carbon is released into the atmosphere," Wilson
said. "What is being done different here is that instead of burning the coal
in air, it is being burnt in pure oxygen so that the amount of carbon
emitted from the coal-fired process is significantly reduced, therefore
making it easier to capture with ancillary technology the carbon produced
and then to safely store it."
Australian and Japanese companies are backing the project, with partial
funding from the government in Canberra.
The International Energy Agency has said that clean coal technology could
help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 25 and 28 percent. The
environmental group Friends of the Earth is not convinced the technology
will be a solution to climate change. A spokeswoman says it has "very
limited potential" to cut emissions in the short term. Critics argue the
technology is unproven and will not guarantee Australia's coal dependent
economy an easy or cheap passage toward a low-emission future. Australia's
hunger for cheap coal makes it one of the world's worst per capita emitters
of greenhouse gases. Scientists warn that the Australian continent will be
especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and may suffer more
severe droughts, floods and storms as a result.
Australia's Labor government says tackling the causes of global warming are
a major policy goal.
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