anna bligh hits greens for selective science

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/anna-bligh-hits-greens-for-selective-science/story-fn59niix-1226118445326


QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh has lashed out at the Greens, saying they cannot cherry-pick the science of climate change to suit their ideology and accused coal-seam gas critics of relying on misleading research.

Ms Bligh's defence of CSG came as Santos chief executive David Knox said the Greens had not fully considered the role of gas in the transition from coal to renewable energy, as part of the Gillard government's plans to tackle climate change.

As the Greens continued to demand more studies into greenhouse gas emissions from CSG and for a moratorium on the industry, Ms Bligh weighed in.

"The CSIRO, which I think is one of the most well-respected science organisations on the planet, considered this issue in 1995 and, I think, put beyond any doubt that the emissions from coal-seam gas are considerably less, between 50 and 70 per cent, than coal-fired generation," Ms Bligh said.



Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.







Related Coverage

Santos chief fires up coal gas debate Adelaide Now, 7 hours ago
Santos boss is cool on coal-seam gas The Australian, 7 hours ago
Coal seam gas is well worth its salt Courier Mail, 7 hours ago
Santos sinks on price fears The Australian, 7 hours ago
CSG vital to reduce carbon, says Knox Courier Mail, 7 hours ago
.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

"There are numerous other scientific reports that back that. Some of the reports that have been relied on this week by the critics of CSG, if you have a look at them, are actually about extracting gas from shale, which is not what's happening in Queensland, nor am I aware of it happening anywhere in Australia," she said.

Julia Gillard also said gas "generates less carbon pollution than coal and it is going to be an important fuel".

"I believe it is going to be a particularly important fuel as the world transitions to cleaner and cleaner energy sources," the Prime Minister said in support of Labor's plan to encourage gas power to replace coal-fired power.

"So we see a strong future for the gas industry here in Australia. We'll use some of that gas; we'll export a lot of that gas. It's got a very bright future" Ms Gillard said.

During the week, Greens leader Bob Brown said the "jury was still out" on whether gas was "cleaner" than coal when used for power generation and his deputy leader, Christine Milne, said there needed to be more scientific study into gas.

Greens MP Adam Bandt also warned that companies investing in CSG for power generation could find themselves with "stranded assets".

Senator Brown has questioned whether coal-seam gas is a more greenhouse-friendly fuel than coal, because of the release of methane during its extraction.

Ms Bligh said she was disappointed in Senator Brown's comments, saying the science on gas was clear.

"Frankly, you can't pick and choose your science to suit your ideology," she said. "You either believe the science on climate change, believe the science on gas emissions, or you don't.

"You can't pick and choose to suit an ideological point and that's what I've seen from the Greens."

Mr Knox yesterday told The Weekend Australian it would not make sense for his company to allow fugitive methane gas particles into the air.

"In producing gas what we do is we gather it," Mr Knox said.

"The absolute last thing we do is emit gas; what we do is we gather it all, every last molecule, because that's our income stream."

Mr Knox said the Greens had not fully considered the role of gas in the transition from coal to renewable energy such as wind and solar.

His defence of the industry came as figures showed the shift to electricity generation from natural gas had helped cut Australia's greenhouse gas emissions growth.

The quarterly update of Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory for March, posted on the Climate Change Department's website earlier this month, shows greenhouse gas emissions growth declined 0.6 per cent in the 12 months to March compared with the previous period.

The report says emissions were lower "reflecting in particular a decrease in black-coal generation and an increase in generation from natural gas and hydroelectricity sources".