political shut down not technical - important

I think it important to reiterate that Cougars shut down is based entirely on political reasons, not technical.

The Government has employed the independent scientific panel (ISP) to try and create a technical justification for their politically motivated decision.

It is obvious that the outcomes and conclusions of the ISP report were already decided by the Government before the report was even commissioned. This is highly evident in the massive errors and holes in the ISP report, which as Cougar points out, contains no technical justification for its conclusions (since no viable technical justifications are available). Also evident that the ISP did not even read Cougars 700 odd pages of submission (why would they bother if the decision was already pre-determined!) It is also evident in the selection of the members of the ISP, since as we know, none of them have any specific UCG background, while there is an entire UCG group at UQ, the proponents of which, would have made a far more 'expert' panel.

I'm not entirely knowledgeable on how the political system works (or rather doesn't work), but i understand that is very important for QLD Labour Party to keep Dorothy Pratt, the Independent member for Nanango, on-side. This IS the real political reason for Cougar Energy's treatment and the cause of QLD Governments 'self-preservation' obligation to keep Dorothy Pratt (and her constituents) happy. From what i understand, Labour will never win the seat of Nanango, so they need to keep Dorothy Pratt and her preferences 'in their pocket'. If Dorothy Pratt says jump, Anna Bligh says "How high?".

Also important to keep in mind is that Cougar's technical team and Technology provider (Ergo Exergy) are the same people that undertook the successful (and stringently environmentally audited) Chinchilla trial from 1999 to 2003. Cougar Energy is the only company using PROVEN commercial technology and in essence, had no reason to conduct a 'trial/pilot' plant, since they already performed their trial from 1999 to 2003. Cougar is ready to go to commercial stage using commercially proven technology.

The other UCG companies should be the worry for the farmers and environmentalists, since they are essentially conducting R&D (experiments)in UCG, which is far more likely to cause environmental harm. That is the whole point of having an expert technology provider and is why Ergo Exergy i providing its PROVEN COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGY to the largest and most advanced UCG projects all over the world. No other company has PROVEN COMMERCIAL UCG TECHNOLOGY.