Gas beats nuclear, and it’s a good transition to renewables
I realise that I am out of step with many environmentalists, but I am a fan of gas as an energy source. We cannot just shut down all our big fossil fuel industries. Nuclear power just adds damage and danger, along with its greenhouse gases. The change to a clean energy system has to happen gradually. Coal must be phased out as quickly as possible. (‘Clean Coal” is surely a fantasy and a distraction from reality). The true 21st Century energy management will be in energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy, – while society changes too, moving from consumerism and growth to sustainability.
But it’s not going to happen overnight. I don’t understand why we are not all plugging for gas right now – sure it’s a greenhouse gas emitter, but much less so than is coal. Gas should be part of the transitional movement that is now under way.
Push for shift to natural gas The Age MATHEW MURPHY
October 2, 2009
A SWITCH from coal to gas could cut Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent, says Australia’s peak gas transmission body, which has warned that governments will fall short of emission reduction targets unless the deployment of gas is accelerated.
In its submission to the Victorian Government’s green paper on climate change, the Australian Pipeline Industry Association (APIA) has criticised ”the attention governments in all jurisdictions give to all energy sources other than gas”………. Victorian natural gas reserves, mainly in the Otway and Gippsland basins, could help the transition from coal-fired generation……….. The Victorian and Federal governments have pledged to cut emissions by 60 per cent from 2000 levels by 2050.
Ms Cartwright said the Federal Government should consider introducing an incentive such as the renewable energy target for gas in an effort to bring down emissions. http://www.theage.com.au/business/push-for-shift-to-natural-gas-20091001-get6.html
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