CO2 stripping: �Pre-combustion technology can only be applied to IGCC. Australia has no IGCC plant (though an IGCC demonstration plant is planned for QLD). IGCC is, however, the basis for many clean coal technology programmes worldwide, many of which envision IGCC as the first step to a hydrogen economy�.
No IGCC plant: �An MIT study notes that cost competitiveness has made IGCC plants the preferred candidate for electricity generation with CCS. The cost of generating electricity from an IGCC plant compared to a conventional pulverised coal plant is, however, considerably more expensive.�
Coal lobby funded research advice: �The Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development (CCSD) commissioned a techno-economic assessment of power generation options for Australia and concluded that IGCC �is likely to remain significantly more expensive than advanced of [pulverised fuel], even with CO2 capture, for electricity generation�. Yet the report also noted that �learning rates from increased implementation, and the need for CO2 capture and other emissions controls, will give the technology [IGCC] an overall cost advantage in the longer term��.
Pre-combustion �advantage�: �The costs of pre-combustion capture may also be potentially offset by the considerable economic benefits of converting coal into a liquid fuel. The House of Commons inquiry concluded that �for new a plant, pre-combustion capture offers a significant advantage, in a carbon constrained world, as a potential source of hydrogen��.
