Come clean on clean coal Costello – a big fat Zero for ZeroGen

Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said there was nothing in last night’s federal budget coffers for clean coal technology.

Minister Wilson said the federal treasurer refused to answer questions about clean coal technology and climate change despite being repeatedly asked by the 7.30 Report’s Kerry O’Brien on national television last night.

“The State Government understands the importance of the coal industry. That’s why we’re investing $300 million in clean coal technology projects.

“We’re investing in a world-first demonstration power plant to capture and store carbon emissions.

“The ZeroGen project is being developed by the government-owned Stanwell Corporation near Rockhampton.

“What’s in the federal budget for ZeroGen? A big fat Zero.

“We are disappointed that again this was not mentioned in last night's Budget. I call on John Howard to work with Queensland and to reconsider this to make it happen,” Mr Wilson said.

Minister Wilson said that ZeroGen could be the first power plant in the world to integrate the technologies of coal gasification and carbon capture and storage, to produce baseload electricity with low CO² emissions.

“It could capture and store up to 420,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. That’s equivalent to taking 93,000 cars off the road for the same period.

“It will also lead to the creation of around 700 jobs in the construction phase and up to 150 permanent jobs during its operation.

“So not only are we securing jobs in regional Queensland, ZeroGen has the potential to achieve deep cuts in CO² emissions.

“Coal gasification is the cleanest method of converting coal’s energy potential into the electricity we need to get on with our daily lives.

“If the project’s successful, Queensland could be in the position to sell this technology to China and India, some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Wilson said.

“We’re doing everything we can to move ZeroGen closer to reality, but a project of this scale and significance is unlikely to happen without the full support of the federal government.

“The lion’s share of any federal government funding is being fed into Victoria for brown coal projects. There’s no funding for ZeroGen.

“Federal Labor has shown foresight and has backed its bold clean coal initiative with a $500 million funding commitment. All up, Federal Labor has pledged three times as much as the Howard Government.

“Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd has a plan that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and protects our $23 billion coal export industry.

“Compare that to the federal government which is backing brown coal projects in Victoria.

“Brown coal is the dirtiest coal in the country. It has around 30% higher greenhouse gas emissions than black coal. It’s basically sludge and a significantly less efficient fuel source than Queensland’s black coal.

“Coal will continue to play a role in the global electricity mix, and meeting climate change will require solutions that have significant global impact.

“Queensland has the foresight and is on the front foot to fight climate change,” Mr Wilson said.

“It’s a great shame the Howard Government hasn’t followed our lead. They had the opportunity and they blew it,” Mr Wilson said.

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