Wood-fired power stations face uphill battle

Monday, 23 April 2001 10:00

"Household consumers will soon be able to choose their electricity supplier and there is a clear need for community watchdog groups to give independant information about the environmental implications of various sources of electricity. In the enthusiasm of members of the electricity industry to portray themselves as green in a competitive electricity market, mistakes will be made. This particularly applies to proposals in four states to burn native forest material to generate electricity," said Norm Crothers for the Australian Consumers Association.

"Power generated from native forests is now being called 'dead koala electricity'. The scale of the demands being made for the wood, herald a new woodchip industry that will cause significant environmental damage. The majority of Australians care about the future of our native forests and I am sure they would not want to plug into this type of power - there are many other alternatives that are much cleaner and greener," said Jeff Angel Director of Total Environment Centre.

A recent national opinion poll commissioned by The Wilderness Society on behalf of state and national peak environment groups found that 88% of people oppose native forest wood-fired power plants and only 6.5% consider such electricity as renewable.

"With this clear verdict against such wood power stations it will be essential to inform the public about which electricity companies are acting responsibly. A range of information methods including surveys of companies and the Internet will be adopted," the two groups said.