Retail giant Harvey Norman has come under fire for their timber sourcing habits, with the company using timber from native Australian old growth forests as well as Indonesian rainforest timber in their furniture. Elizabeth McArthur reports.

Native Australian old growth forests logged for commercial gain. Image: rodbot

The ongoing campaign driven by activist group Markets for Change came to a head when three protesters recently scaled the Sydney Opera House to unravel a banner reading “No Harvey No- stop selling Aussie forest destruction.”

Louise Morris, campaigns manager at Markets for Change said, “From floor surveys we have conducted in Harvey Norman an average of 70% of the wood products found in their stores were Australian native forest wood products.”

Miss Morris maintains that, “It is the responsibility of retailers to implement procurement policies that rule out selling high conservation value Australian native forest products- instead moving to plantation based products.

“Well managed plantations are a viable alternative to logging of native old growth forests.

“Mixed specie plantations grown in appropriate areas are the perfect way to supply our wood and paper needs, while leaving native forests to be carbon and biodiversity stores and to act as watersheds, which is what they do best.”

In response to the campaign Gerry Harvey said, on ABC radio, “You know, I’m trying my best to use recycled timber or timber from plantations and not old forests.

“But every now and again something will slip through and I’ll be caught using timber from old forests, but it well could be timber that the Government in fact has told saw millers that they can actually – they can take it. They’ve got a certificate to take it.

“So it’s a little bit dicey sometimes.”

However Mr. Harvey’s claims have been questioned by Get Up who recently posted on their website, “the reality is – Harvey Norman has contracts with loggers in Tasmania, NSW, Victoria and WA to source wood from our most precious native forests.

“Harvey Norman has started using industry spin and a dodgy industry certification scheme to try and deflect mounting public pressure and protests.”

Get Up is continuing to ask the public to sign a petition with the goal of Harvey Norman agreeing not to source timber for high conservation value forests.

They aim to circulate the petition to every Harvey Norman store in Australia, in the hope that franchise owners will take notice even if the larger company doesn’t change their policy.

Harvey Norman is not the only retailer who sources material from high conservation value forests; earlier this year envelopes from Kmart were found to contain Indonesian rainforest wood.

When asked why Harvey Norman was specifically targeted for the campaign Ms Morris said, “Harvey Norman was chosen as a campaign focus as they are Australia’s largest furniture and electrical retailer, with stores in other countries as well.

“The Harvey Norman campaign is an ongoing one whereby we are working to the aim of Harvey Norman implementing procurement policies that rule out the selling of native forests products in their stores.”

A small island in Denmark became CO₂ -neutral in less than ten years. Several bigger cities in Denmark now try to accomplish the same. Miriam Ønya reports.

Denmark’s capital Copenhagen wants to be the CO₂  neutral by 2025. But transport pollution is a major contributer to greenhouse gas emissions. Linda Arponen, Liisi Mölder and Asta Smagurauskaite report on the ways Denmark is searching to reduce traffic pollution.

The number of indigenous fishermen on the NSW south coast has fallen to just eight and the 125 year old tradition is now in danger of disappearing. Daniel Walsh writes.

Current fishing laws could mean a 125 year old Indigenous fishing tradition may be in danger of disappearing. Image: Túrelio, Wikimedia commons

At dawn most mornings, you’ll find fisherman Craig Nye sitting amongst the dunes of Barlings Beach on the south coast of NSW. He braves the morning chill to hunt mullet, garfish, or if he’s lucky, whiting.

His eyes scour the water for a flash of movement, a glint of silver underbelly, a churning or splash, darting across the surface with the skill and knowledge that’s been running through his family for some 40,000 years.

They say all it takes is for one of those fish to smile, and Nye will easily find them.

The mullet usually run along the Eurobodalla Nature Coast in early April, so it’s into Nye’s tiny rowboat to head across Broulee Bay. If he was after lobster or abalone, he’d be straight off the side of the boat with nothing but a facemask. For today though, patience, a keen pair of eyes and a hand sown net are the tools of the trade.

Nye skilfully anticipates the pull and drag of the catch, and before long the net is swarming with fish. The haul is quickly brought in to the beach to be put on ice and sent off for processing.

And despite five generations that have passed since his ancestor Francis Butler first fished on the far south coast of NSW, the only thing Nye does differently is drive to work in a ute; there’s still no motor on the boat, still no radar or sonar and Nye’s still out there every morning.

When asked whether he would do anything else for a living, Nye laughs. “Nah mate. I’ll always be fishing. I’ve got scales on me,” he says.

With or without scales, Nye is one of the last of a dying breed. Indigenous fishermen say they are being forced to give up their traditions and cultures by stringent fishing laws and over policing.

Where there were once 40 or 50 licensed Koori (Indigenous Australians in NSW) fishermen between Batemans Bay and the Victorian border, there are now only eight on the 320 kilometres of coastline.

Nye’s father, Andrew ‘Sam’ Nye, and Francis’ grandson, Tom Butler, are respected local Aboriginal elders, and both agree that current laws make it near impossible for Aboriginal people to teach younger generations about traditional fishing methods.

Currently only crew members officially endorsed and recognised as crew can be involved in any commercial fishing activity. “Under these licensing laws, the young fellas who are curious about what their uncle or their dad is doing can’t go anywhere near the boat,” Nye says. “They can’t learn how to fish or be taught how to fish because we get fined for having illegal crew. They’re not allowed to get in the boat, pull on the nets or row the boat; you can even get done for sitting up here [in the sand dunes] and spotting the fish.”

Butler explains that having family members involved in the fishing activity does not allow extra fish to be caught, but is simply part of Aboriginal culture.

“If there’s extra people helping to pull our nets in, it doesn’t mean we catch extra fish, it just makes things easier for everyone,” he says. “The concepts of family and kinship are such a huge part of being Aboriginal, and you’ll never break those family ties, you’ll just drive the Kooris out of the industry.”

Also affecting indigenous fishing is the nature of licensing and quota systems, which Nye believes does not account for the seasonal nature of Aboriginal fishing.

“We have never fished according to quotas, we fish according to the actual fishing seasons, which is more environmentally friendly than just targeting one species,” he says. “When Fisheries started to divide the catches into certain species and started to sell the property rights, the boys can’t fill the quotas because they’re not chasing one species and overfishing it, so they can’t afford a licence for each species, and now there’s no one left.”

Those who have quit the industry, says Nye, are now on the dole.

According to the Indigenous Fisheries Strategy and Implementation Plan, which was drafted in 2002, a number of projects have been implemented to protect and enhance the Aboriginal cultural connection to fishing.

Legislation changes made in 2009 have seen the introduction of a definition of cultural fishing to the Fisheries Management Act, and the establishment of the Aboriginal Fisheries Advisory Council (AFAC), which held their first meeting in March.

Laura Best, Senior Manager at NSW Fisheries Resource Management, accepts there is cause for concern, but that there is also now greater recognition of the importance of fishing in Indigenous culture.

“The recognition of being able to pass on knowledge and ‘show the ropes’ so to speak is there, as there is some flexibility in terms of nominating crew and fishers,” says Miss Best. “But at the same time the rules that are in place are there for everyone, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Aboriginal or not, if you’re operating in that commercial sense the rules apply across the board.”

Close consultation with the newly formed AFAC will be critical to determining initiatives that help maintain Indigenous traditions whilst not disadvantaging anyone else in the commercial sector, says Best.

UTS Professor of Marine Ecology David Booth says a fine balance must be struck between the need to responsibly manage the ocean’s resources and fulfill commercial and cultural interests. In reference to Indigenous fishing, Professor Booth says: “There is the argument that local fishers looking after a smaller crop do a better job of sustaining their environment . . . but the larger enterprises also have the means to put more back into the environmental side of the fishery.”

Professor Booth explains that Indigenous people rightly hold grave concerns about losing their culture and traditional practices, but that their biggest threat is not from stringent rules and regulations.

“Over the next 80 years, the NSW south coast is going to be hardest hit by climate change,” he says. “And unless we find a way to curb the sea temperature increase that is caused by humans, a number of cold water species such as abalone, lobster and many types of fish are going to be pushed further south.”

Professor Booth continues, “. . . it would be an absolute shame to lose any part of Indigenous culture, but at the same time we’ve got to embrace the various forms of sustainable management. These methods aren’t designed to prevent people from fishing and pursuing their livelihoods, but as a means of making sure these practices can be continued for generations to come.”

The AFAC has a lot resting on it’s newly formed shoulders, with fisherman such as Nyes as well as NSW Department of Primary Industries hoping the council will provide a much needed platform for discussion and change.

As the south coast’s delegate to the AFAC, Danny Chapman is also Tom Butler and Craig Nye’s younger cousin.

Chapman recognises the potential that marine parks and crackdowns on illegal fishing could have on the rejuvenation of the south coast’s fishing resources. He is an advocate of specific Indigenous licenses to be established once stocks such as abalone have been replenished.

“Kooris have fished properly for years and years, and we’ve always managed the ocean responsibly, so why not give us a specific license to fish responsibly, and not just for special cultural events like we’ve got now and not just recreationally with very strict limits, but legitimately culturally,” he says.

Amidst concerns that an Indigenous cultural catch could be exploited by a burgeoning black market, Chapman was adamant any new allowance could be policed.

“We’ve got to step up and be responsible. It’s on us here,” he says. “If I see blackfellas (sic) going and selling our cultural catch, and exploiting our culture, then that’s when you prosecute them. That’s when you throw the book at them, and that’s when these ideas like circle sentencing come into it.”

Chapman has previously rejected notions of circle sentencing, where local Aboriginal elders are involved in the sentencing process, as a punishment of Indigenous people caught fishing illegally.

In order to encourage Aboriginal people to join the fishing industry, Chapman says efforts must be made at both the government and community levels, and says the AFAC is committed to achieving this.

“We’ll be recommending to Primary Industries a number of measures, and hopefully these will be brought in as soon as possible,” he said. “There’s got to be a ton of training, there’s got to be a relief on current Indigenous fisherman to let them teach their kids and grand kids, and there’s got to be a lot more awareness of our culture in general.”

“We want to stop the prosecutions; we want to be able to give elders the right to have a feed whenever they want to have a feed,” Chapman continued. “We want to give our young people the ability to go out and dive and fish for their entire family without being harassed and prosecuted, and we want to see Aboriginal people at the forefront of the industry”

No matter what happens over the next couple of years however, Nye will still be up in the dunes at Barlings Beach every morning. After all, the man’s got scales.

Thousands of people gathered in Sydney’s Prince Alfred Park Sunday morning to show their support for the federal government’s proposed carbon tax. Rashida Yosufzai reports.

Mums, dads, kids and climate activists made up the crowd of an estimated 8000 urging the government to put a price on emissions and invest in renewable energy, as part of a nationwide campaign organised by community action groups.

Some held politically-charged banners and placards with slogans criticising the opposition and calling for a policy shift from investments in coal to clean energy.

Simon Sheikh from activist group Getup and one of the campaign organisers, said it was time for the government to act on climate change.

“We say yes to a price on pollution and yes to clean energy investment,” he said.

“Right now our politicians are negotiating a carbon price. We say to them to make it ambitious, make sure it invests in clean energy and energy efficiency. “

Rallies were held in cities across the nation to coincide with each other as part of the ‘Say Yes’ campaign, which kicked off last Monday with a TV advertisement featuring actress Cate Blanchett. The controversial ad generated a media storm after the actress was criticised by parts of the media for being out of touch with families who are struggling with the costs of living, especially those in Sydney’s west.

But Parramatta resident Ramya Krishnan, from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, told crowds that residents in her community were just as concerned about climate change as the rest of Sydney.

“The shock jocks don’t speak for western Sydney, neither does Tony Abbott,” Krishnan said.

“The mothers and fathers in western Sydney have big dreams. These are families who are struggling just like everyone else, but who want to lead a better world for their children and future generations,” she added.

Phil Bradley of the Parramatta Climate Action Network, which represents a group of 150 members, said western Sydney householders have genuine fears about the impact of the carbon tax, but much of it comes down to a lack of information being sent across.

“We’ve been on door-knocking campaigns and found some people were so pressed financially they were using solar lamps [instead] of lights at night, and sometimes not even having the refrigerator going because of the costs of energy,” he said.

“It’s pretty sad when some of them are saying they’ve heard prices are going up, and thinking that’s the fault of the carbon tax, which hasn’t even been introduced yet . They’re unaware that there is a compensation package part of this, that in fact makes some people better off,” he added.

The effects of the debt crisis in Greece are beginning to show. Not only has the economy been damaged, but Greece’s environmental future could now be at stake too. Bella Papadopoulou Dobrowolska and Morgan Pettersson report.

Rubbish on the streets of Thessaloniki. Image: Bella Papadopoulou

At a time when the world has come face-to-face with the realities of climate change, individual state policies on environmental issues are becoming more critical than ever.

On the 15th of March, the Greek Government voted in a new law protecting the country’s biodiversity. Speaking to local media, the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Tina Birbili, said that she is confident the new law will help address issues of unlawful development and environmental degradation.

“The new legal framework will be Greece’s tool for the protection of its fauna, flora and its habitats, combined always with the sustainable development of local communities,” she said.

Before Greece became synonymous with the word ”crisis”, the country was admired for its environmental treasures. Though the crisis itself may now be the factor that signals the end of the Greece’s green paradise.

Earlier this year, the government allowed environmental planning to take a back seat to overseas investment when they failed to follow guidelines for a green area within the concrete jungle of Athens.

The original proposal was to transform the former Hellinikon International Airport of Athens into a green space that would be known as Metropolitan Green Park. The airport site is the only large-scale, open area left in Athens and turning it into a park would help address the dramatic shortage of green, public spaces in the capital.

A collaboration between the Greek Government and the Government of the State of Qatar, the project’s
 400-700 million euro budget was originally aimed at green investment and the development of the park. Changes to the plan have now given way to the possibility of the park becoming a commercial venture that includes casinos and resorts.

Dr Christos Frangonikolopoulos, professor of Political Sciences at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, sees the altered plan as a direct consequence of the financial crisis because the potential commercial centre would help boost the economy.

Dr Frangonikolopoulos finds it only natural that the Greek government’s environmental priorities have shifted in the wake of the debt crisis.

“When the crisis happened the government encouraged the people to buy new cars, not the bio fuel ones which are environmentally friendly,” he said.

The European Union (EU) imposes environmental guidelines that all member countries are expected to implement. These guidelines refer to issues ranging from air quality and waste management to biodiversity protection.

Babis Papaiouannou assistant to Kritonas Arsenis, a member for the National Council of the European Union, says that Greece has been unable to meet the high standards expected by the EU in regards to environmental policies.

“Unfortunately, Greece is one of the lower ranking countries when it comes to the instructions that the EU sets. We have not done anything,” Babis said.

For those Greeks who want to minimise their carbon footprint there is a severe shortage of adequate facilities to make living green possible.

In Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, there are only a handful of recycling stations to provide for a population of over 2 million.

Those who wish to recycle their plastic bottles are forced to carry them into the city’s central square and place them in a 4m² green box.

Recycling can’t be done from home, but rather is carried out in front of a passing parade of shoppers, workers and tourists. And a consequence of the Government’s failure to take the recycling issue seriously, is that there is little motivation to join the green movement.

Carolin Erikson, a German environmental science exchange student, was struck by how a European country can be so backwards in its almost non-existent recycling strategy.

“The Government doesn’t do anything green, and this discourages the youth to get active in problems concerning the waste problem, water consumption and recycling,” she said.

George Blionis, is concerned about the lack of interest being shown by the youth in regards to the environmental future of Greece.  As Professor of the School of Biology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and member of the Greek Green Party, Blionis does acknowledge a growing environmental awareness amongst the youth.

“Young people in Greece better understand the connection of economic crisis with the environmental and social crisis. They are not willing to see the wonderful environment of Greece being undermined and destroyed by huge unsustainable development projects,” he said.

Although Greece is suffering from what may be one of the worst economic crises in European history, there are still attempts being made to re-focus on environmental issues.

A new and innovative environmental exhibition, aimed at promoting a more sustainable future for Greece in the face of the crisis, has been brought to Thessaloniki by Non-Governmental Organisation, “Act Now”. The president of Act Now, Noredin Mokassabi, acknowledges that the economic circumstances have had a negative effect on the green movement in Greece.

“I think that they do desire to be green, but at the moment with the financial crisis the Greeks simply can’t,” he says.

Only the future will tell what is going to happen with the Greek environment, but for now it is certainly undergoing a crisis of it’s own.

In a bid to counter the anti-carbon tax rally that happened in Canberra this month, Get Up (a community activism organisation) and environmental unions turned up in force at The Climate Action Rally to support the proposed carbon tax. Sara Vincent reports.

The carbon tax debate has drawn thousands to rally sites in Sydney and Belmore Park. Image: Sara Vincent.

According to Get Up’s national director Simon Sheikh, as many as 8,000 environmentalists flocked to Belmore Park, while 2,000 anti-carbon tax campaigners gathered at Hyde Park in the Sydney CBD.

In Belmore Park, many hoped the big turn-out would send a message of support to the government and the carbon tax.

“I think we’ve got to speak strongly in favour of the environment.

“I think it’s really about global warming not climate change at all, and I don’t really think it’s a carbon tax [but] a penalty for polluters,” carbon tax supporter, David Falcon, said.

For attendees of The Climate Action Rally the carbon tax is a small price to pay to reduce pollution and environmental degradation.

Gemma Borgom-Carrati, spokesperson for the Australian Youth Climate Coalition said the rally was the beginning of a long fight against climate change skeptics.

“We know that a sustainable and clean economy is possible in this country.

“This is why we must continue to fight to show that Sydney supports a price on pollution,” Borgom-Carrati said.

In Hyde Park, anti-carbon tax campaigners gathered with a petition signed by 25,000 people opposing the carbon tax. The petition was presented by Opposition Leader in the Senate, Eric Abetz.

Senator Abetz said climate change in Australia was ‘human-induced’, and “a result of this carbon tax.”

Anti-carbon tax campaigners were generally concerned with the rise in the cost of living for Australian families.

Peter Stanton was at Hyde Park and calls himself a ‘real Greeny’ who wants to see the best done for the environment. But he said before applying a tax on citizens, the government should invest in planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide.

“Climate change has been around since the Big Bang.

“Otherwise we would be on hot lava, wouldn’t we? Climate change is a daily occurrence, it’s not something that humans can affect…” Stanton said.

Former One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson was at Hyde Park in support of the anti-carbon tax movement. Hanson said “greed” was behind the carbon tax.

“I totally disagree with the carbon tax.

“It’s a tax on people that can’t afford [it], but it’s also, I believe, a tax for the multinationals to make money out of people.”

“I think it’s going to turn into big business. So, people will make a lot of money out of it. I see greed behind it,” Hanson said.

In an address to protesters, Sheikh said the next six months will be crucial for believers of climate change.

“[In the next six months] we must achieve a price on pollution and we must achieve substantial investment in renewable energy.”

Get Up has organised a second Climate Action Rally to take place in Brisbane on April 9.

Citizens in the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati are already feeling the heat of climate change and many predict they will be the first to face the prospect of leaving their homeland.

Their lives, economies and cultures are based on coastlines that are now becoming a threat to their very existence.

Lauren Day looks at what has happened in this small island state since the Copenhagen summit and how they are preparing and adapting to life at the frontline of climate change.

Government drawback means solar is growing up, Benjamin Vozzo reports.

The solar energy industry has received little government support so far. Image: Daniel Figueroa.

A decision by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to phase out Solar Credits a year earlier is being flagged as a win for the solar energy industry.

The decision means that average government support for a 1.5 kilowatt system in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide would be reduced from about $6,200 to about $5,000.

Mark Twidell, the executive director of the Australian Solar Institute, says that the recent announcement by Minister Greg Combet shows that the industry is beginning to support itself without government help.

“The technology costs are coming down. The industry, as it continues to expand, is able to lower prices and the result is that generally governments around the world are reducing the level of
subsidy support, which is a good thing,” he says.

“If you were to think of solar energy as you might think of a human being, we’re probably just entering our teen years. We’re yet to leave home. I think leaving home is when you can start to look after yourself.”

Twidell believes the government has an important part to play in helping the solar industry to gain independence and compete in the energy market.

“Every market around the world is in some ways the result of government policy. Those policies manifest themselves in subsidies and incentives to help build the market for solar power so
that more investment can come in, which lowers the cost,” he says.

But not everybody believes governments have helped the industry get on its feet. Recent amendments to state and territory feed in tariff systems created a level of uncertainty for businesses in the sector, and caused confusion to the consumer.

The NSW State Government recently decided to slash the household feed in tariff for solar panels from 60 cents to 20 cents per kilowatt an hour.

Not all states are following this pattern. In August, South Australian Premier Mike Rann announced that he would be increasing the feed in tariff by 10 cents to 54 cents per kilowatt an hour.

Not only do the rates vary from state to state, but so too do the duration of subsidies.

Matthew Wright, the executive director of the non-profit, volunteer organisation Beyond Zero Emissions says that the recent changes by state and federal governments have not helped the industry to achieve its full potential.

“The main issue around it is the stop-start nature of policy, which basically means that industry can’t really scale and ramp in an orderly way, or follow thorough with the quality that is needed,” Wright says.

“So perhaps [the] market was a bit more heated in ramping faster than it needed to, but that didn’t mean that you pump it and dump it.”

Wright believes that a uniform feed in tariff would reward production and ensure consumers seek out better quality panels and installations.

“What we really need is a national approach, it should all be based around a feed in tariff . . . and renewable energy certificates should be eliminated as upfront subsidies because they don’t reward production,” he says.

Max Sylvester, general manager of Innovation at renewable energy company Energy Matters, says that the recent announcement by Mr Combet does have an impact on the stability of the industry, but also shows that solar energy is on the way up.

“It’s kind of bad for the industry, but it proves that the industry actually works and that people are producing meaningful amounts of power,” he says.

“I think it will play a huge role in the future . . . once the panel is produced, there’s no emissions from the energy that’s created from the panels. So it really is an emissions-free technology.”

Sylvester also believes that the industry is being unfairly blamed for rising electricity prices.

“It’s really the ageing infrastructure. There’s billions of dollars that needs to be invested into electricity infrastructure, but it’s nothing to do with solar. Nobody has spent any money on it in the last 30 years,” he says.

Sylvester points out that solar is the cheaper long term alternative for consumers, as coal-generated electricity prices continue to rise.

“If you work it out over 25 years, you’re paying probably 10 cents per kilowatt an hour, or maybe less because of the current rebates that we have [for solar]. Whereas you’re currently paying probably 15 to 20 cents per kilowatt an hour for electricity you’re using around the house. And that’s only increasing every year.”

Like any developing sector, there are many research projects underway to increase the presence of solar energy in Australia.

The Australian Solar Institute is funding 27 projects valued at $200 million across Australia. Twidell says that one such project is looking into the benefits and development of solar thermals.

“Solar thermal technology uses mirrors to focus the sun’s light in the same way that you might do with a magnifying glass. These projects offer the advantage of being able to store heat and generate electricity after dark, and one of the challenges of solar is that we like our electricity when we’re at home at night,” says Twidell.

“I would say that the future for solar energy is absolutely bright. The industry is doubling in size almost every year around the world . . . it’s certainly the world’s fastest growing energy industry.”

Carbon capture storage is promoted by governments and the mining industry worldwide as a solution to climate change. But can it hold up to its promises? Lauren Kelleher reports.

Coal Power Station. Image: Greenstone Girl

In March this year, the New South Wales government announced the allocation of $28.3 million to develop the state’s first large scale commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility.

Addressing the problem of climate change has been, and continues to be, a major concern of governments globally. CCS is one of the options at the foreground of providing a solution to this issue.

CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere, compressing it, transporting it to a suitable site, and injecting it into deep geological formations where it will be trapped for thousands or millions of years.

Ralph Hillman, Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association, believes the NSW government’s announcement is a right step forward for the future of CCS in Australia.

“The close working commitment and relationship shown by the coal industry and Federal and State governments to CCS technology will ensure that Australia has a number of commercial scale CCS projects ready within the next ten years,” said Hillman.

The Australian Coal Association and both the federal and NSW governments equally fund the project, managed by Delta Electricity.

At the 2008 G8 Summit in Japan, all parties committed to the development and broad deployment of CCS by 2020. In conjunction with this promise came the 2008 Hokkaido Recommendation to launch 20 large-scale CCS demonstration projects by the end of 2020.

According to the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI), over 80 large-scale projects are at various stages of development around the world, including in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Australia, named by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as one of the major countries committed to CCS, has invested heavily in the clean coal scheme. In 2009 the Australian Federal Government created the Clean Energy Initiative (CEI), which includes spending $2.4 billion on CCS projects. The Rudd government also invested $100 million a year into the Global CCS Institute.

But according to Greenpeace, CCS cannot deliver in time to avoid dangerous climate change. The environmental organisation believes that deployment of CCS at utility scale cannot be achieved before 2030, and to avoid the worst impacts of climate change gas emissions will have to start falling by 2015 at the very latest.

Time is not the only concern revolving around the use of CCS. Issues about the feasibility, costs, safety and liability of CCS all need to be addressed.

Journalist and environmental consultant for Greenpeace Australia Pacific Julie Macken said, “Carbon capture and storage is like the tooth fairy. It’s fantastic. But it’s totally delusional.”

According to Macken there is serious doubt whether the capture will work on such scale and that it will work commercially.

“At the moment we use coal because it is cheap. But using CCS will make fuel more expensive, the price of fuel will rise from $35 to around $120. The government and companies involved are saying that tax money will subsidise CCS to make it more commercially viable, and therefore cost will not become an issue.

But we say – why not subsidise on new green renewable technologies that are already available and will cost less?”

Macken argues that spending money on CCS is diverting urgent funding away from renewable energy solutions, such as wind power and many types of sustainable biomass.

According to the 2008 Greenpeace report, False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and storage won’t save the climate , funding for renewable technologies and efficiency has stagnated or declined. Australia has three research centres for fossil fuels, including one committed to CCS, but there is not one committed to renewable energy technology.

McKinsey & Company predict that by 2030, carbon capture and storage costs could be reduced to $45-$70 per tonne of CO2 abated, compared to a price of $90-$140 per tonne for current demonstration projects. This amounts to a 50% per cent cost reduction over the next 20 years.

Nevertheless, environmental concerns include catastrophic leakage, contamination of water and the escape of captured flue gasses. Such concerns highlight the unpredictable nature of CCS and demonstrate one of the key challenges it faces: the safe and permanent storage of captured carbon.

According to New Gen Coal, ‘there is no single technology available today that will enable greenhouse gas emissions from energy production to be stabilised and reduced to the levels scientists say are needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change. There are currently no facilities that capture CO2 emissions from a power plant at commercial scale’.

In 2006, a United States Geological Survey (USGS) field experiment demonstrated the unpredictable nature of carbon dioxide and the inexperience the world has when it comes to the long-term storage of CO2.

The 2008 Greenpeace report tells how the USGS scientists were testing deep geological disposal of carbon dioxide at a pilot project in Frio, Texas. The buried CO2 dissolved in large amounts of the surrounding minerals responsible for keeping it contained. Leading scientist of the field experiment, Yousif Kharaka, told Greenpeace that the results are a ‘cautionary tale’ for future detailed and careful studies of injection sites of CO2.

Macken also considers legal liability a major concern regarding CCS. Industry views liability as a barrier to wider deployment of CCS and is unwilling to fully invest in CCS without a framework that protects it from long-term liability.

“Who owns the Carbon once it is stored underground? Who owns it once it explodes, leaks, or causes an earthquake? The answer is no one. The fact is [CCS] is uninsurable. It is a risk that can’t be managed and therefore can’t be done,” said Macken.

The International Energy Agency claims significant progress has been made on the development of legal and regulatory frameworks. It will be producing a bi-annual review of CCS Legal and Regulatory Development and is working on a Model CCS Legal and Regulatory framework.

In 2005, the Regulatory Guiding Principals for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geological Storage was established by the Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources of the Australian Federal Government. The frameworks outline liability responsibility to all parties involved whereby liability does not arise until the injury or damage occurs. Such frameworks display that not all liability costs will be faced by the public in relation to CCS.

Australian Coal Association Ralph Hillman said “Australia generates around 80% of its electricity from coal, and the coal industry directly and indirectly employs over 130,000 Australians and plays a major role in our national economy. With so much at stake, the deployment of CCS is crucial to our industry’s future and New South Wales is now firmly in the development picture.”

With planned CCS projects proceeding in Australia and worldwide, only time will tell whether the new scheme will be a success.