26 Nov 2015
An independent expert report released today confirms natural gas has a long-term future in Australia’s energy generation mix, delivering lower emissions and cost‑competitive, reliable power.
The report – Australian Power Generation Technology – heralded as the “most in-depth study of its kind to date”, also confirms that no single technology can satisfy Australia’s energy demand.
“The report provides a thorough, independent assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of renewable, coal and gas technologies,” APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts said.
“The expert verdict is that gas-fired generation is cleaner than coal, cheaper than renewables and can adapt quickly to meet changing demand.
“By every measure – costs, water use, emissions, waste and reliability – natural gas is strongly competitive against other generation types. Natural gas and coal remain the cheapest sources of baseload power.
“And combined cycle natural gas plants can provide baseload power at a comparable cost to efficient, super-critical coal-fired plants but with the critical advantage of much lower emissions.
“The report is an important contribution to discussion about our growing low carbon energy needs ahead of climate change talks in Paris next week.
“The energy debate is too often distorted by cheer squads for one or other technologies, ignoring the fact that our energy needs are complicated and demand a mix of generation sources,” Dr Roberts said.
“The Australian Power Generation Technology report confirms that gas-fired generation offers a unique combination of advantages – low emissions, reliability and affordability.”
The report can be viewed at www.co2crc.com.au/dls/media/15/APGT_Final_release.pdf
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