Australian Energy Analysts Dismiss Carbon Burial As "Fantasy"

[hatrack]

CANBERRA, Sep 28 (IPS) - "A report by leading energy consultants has dismissed plans by the Australian government to promote the burying of greenhouse gases as the solution to climate change and has labelled the idea as an expensive and technologically uncertain strategy. ''Carbon capture and storage (CCS) power station technology systems are not yet operating on a commercial scale anywhere in the world,'' points out the report, written by a team headed by respected energy policy analyst Hugh Saddler.

The report 'Geosequestration: What is it and how much can it contribute to a sustainable energy policy for Australia?' was published by the Canberra-based think tank, the Australia Institute.

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While the Australian government's approach has the support of the coal industry and energy supply companies, Saddler argues that CCS will be much more expensive than new renewable power supply options such as gas fired power stations or wind power - or increasing the efficiency of energy use. ''All these technologies are far more mature than CCS; they are proven, already in widespread commercial use, but also, particularly in the case of wind, likely to fall considerably in cost over time as further experience with the technologies is gained,'' warn the report's authors.

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In mid-June, Howard launched the governments White Paper on energy strategy titled 'Securing Australia's Energy Future' which heavily promotes CCS. ''Why would we throw away this enormous natural advantage we have? So surely the smart commonsense thing to do in Australia's national interest is to try and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the use of these fuels, and this is what the paper is designed to do,'' said Howard. While the government has been prepared to back the unproven technology of geosequestration, it refused to increase the five percent mandatory percentage of electricity power supply companies are required to buy from renewable energy suppliers, such as wind farms."

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http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=25631

[yellowcanine]

1. The way to sequester carbon is to grow crops with no-till technology.

Using this technology along with other soil conservation techniques can increase the organic matter content of mineral soils in temperate regions from about 2% to 4 or 5% or even more. Do this on a wide enough scale and a lot of carbon will be stored in the soil. Extra bonus for the farmer is that the soil becomes more productive and less soil is lost to erosion.

[kestrel91316]

2. Better than crops is trees...................

trees will sequester carbon for many years. Crops will sequester it only for the time it takes to grow them and then the time it takes for eating/digestion of crops and decay of waste/byproducts.