ceto emigrating, page-17

To those interested in conspiracy theories it is interesting to juxtapose CWE's claim that (over time) they will be able to generate electricity cost competitively with coal with the award of this grant to a company with strong ties to coal in a state which has a serious problem with its dependence on dirty coal.

It seems to me that it is in Leighton's interest to get some good publicity on working towards greener energy production whilst not placing its huge asset base in genuine serious jeopardy by making that alternative _TOO_ competitive.

A flawed approach that may have trouble getting completed (OPT have a poor track record on execution) and will certainly take a long time to be put to the test may well suit both Leighton and the Victorian Government. And as someone has pointed out (can't find it at the moment so sorry for the lack of attribution) the Feds may quietly expect never to have to pay up on this grant.

Of course if Carnegie can be spectacularly successful elsewhere, establishing a near-profitable production model (with further viability improvements in the pipeline) they will eventually see everyone lose interest in any OPT Portland project.

I'd sure like to see the whiteboard the committee used to support its decision making on this one.