Iemma Government has to go further on no coal power policy

Thursday, 15 September 2005 10:00

"Now it's time to rule out coal for base-load as well. New energy demand can be met more cheaply and quickly with energy efficiency and renewable energy," said Jane Castle, Resource Conservation Campaigner for the Centre.

"The NSW Government should not be panicked by threats of 'the lights going out' - it's nonsense and with peak demand supplied from demand management and gas, there is plenty of time to ramp up the alternatives for more megawatts."

The NSW Minister for Education, Carmel Tebutt, made the commitment at an Environment Forum held at Petersham Town Hall on Monday night. Ms Tebutt confirmed that peak energy demand would not be met by coal, and that 'personally' she didn't believe that NSW needed more coal-fired power.

"It's a no-brainer," said Ms Castle. "Coal-fired generation is the wrong type of fuel for peak demand because it takes too long to fire up and is highly polluting. Saving energy at peak times is by far the cheapest and cleanest option."

"The Government must now aggressively pursue energy savings to reduce new electricity demand growth by half. Energy savings are five times cheaper than new coal. When you add up all the extra costs of another 1500MW of coal-fired generation, the cost is over $9 billion."

"The Government has announced aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. They will simply not be met if the Government approves more coal-fired generation. Support for new coal will damage the ALP vote in Marrickville and the 2007 State Election as the environment is a big concern for the community", she said.
 

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Jane Castle
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