Carbon storage could save Latrobe Valley jobs: clean coal chief

Age
Monday 27/4/2009 Page: 1

THE inaugural head of Clean Coal Victoria believes carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is a viable proposition that could prevent the loss of hundreds of jobs in the coal sector. Charlie Speirs, who has spent almost 30 years working for Loy Yang Power in the Latrobe Valley, says CCS technology could also be used to build more brown-coal power stations in Victoria. Last April Premier John Brumby committed $110 million to establish precommercial CCS demonstration projects and $12.2 million for Clean Coal Victoria, an organisation designed to "maximise the value of Victoria's brown coal resources".

"The role is pretty clearly to recognise that coal is abundant but it is no longer popular - it's got some environmental issues," Mr Speirs told BusinessDay. "Clean Coal Vic is really about finding ways of using the coal, whether it be for power generation or for alternative uses like liquids or ammonia. But whatever it is, the greenhouse gas needs to be managed appropriately."

Mr Speirs admits he thinks the words "clean" and "coal" have been strangely juxtaposed. "I heard someone say about a month ago that 'clean coal' is an oxymoron and I thought well, yes, that is sort of true," he said. "I think though we have to come up with a way of presenting it so that it lives up to its aim and that is to develop coal in an environmentally sustainable way." Mr Speirs says Latrobe Valley residents, many of whom are employed through the coal industry, are concerned that the economic situation, combined with the moves towards a carbon constrained world, could affect their livelihoods.

"The pragmatic view is that greenhouse is a political reality and I think there is a fair bit of science around to support that. That view has been accepted around this community but there are concerns around what that means for future jobs," he said. "A lot of the work I will be doing is making sure there is a transition towards more environmentally sustainable jobs."

That, Mr Speirs says, includes geosequestration, which he says must be thoroughly investigated. "Loy Yang has run a little plant that has captured carbon so technically it can be done. There is a program running in western Victoria that is putting it back in the ground," he said. "The role I will have will be further investigating how it can be done, what the cost is and where you put the infrastructure.

I think there is confidence in the technology but we need to make sure the capture is done properly and the storage is right." Despite the push away from coal, Mr Speirs believes future brown-coal power plants could be built. "I don't see another Loy Yang being built but I don't accept that no new coal-fired power stations will be built. They would just have to be different to the current design so that the greenhouse gas is managed better," he said.