Martin Schneider
GHG Monitor
3/21/2014
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Officer Harry Kenyon-Slaney emphasized the company’s broad support for carbon capture and storage technology in a speech in Sydney, Australia, this week, calling government support for CCS essential and highlighting the key role coal will play in baseload power generation for the foreseeable future. Citing International Energy Agency conclusions about the necessary reliance on coal-powered electricity generation for at least the next several decades, Kenyon-Slaney said future climate policy must acknowledge role of fossil fuels. “Knowing that coal is here to stay, it is fruitless to keep indulging in idealistic discussions about climate change,” he said in the speech to the Energy Policy Institute of Australia, according to the text of his remarks released by Rio Tinto. “It is clear we can’t just wish away fossil fuels. Any solution to climate change must recognise the ongoing significant role of fossil fuels in the global energy mix. It would simply be impractical and unrealistic not to do so.”
Kenyon-Slaney noted that, “Renewables have received massive and sustained support to boost their share of the energy mix,” adding that while “we understand the constraints governments are under,” ongoing support for CCS “is also essential—this is a real-world response to climate change.” He went on to say that Rio Tinto supports “the full range of technologies aimed at reducing emissions from burning coal, and believe priority should be given to whichever technology is the most affordable first. However, ultimately the world will need to be using them all.” He also highlighted the company’s investment in CCS development. ”Rio Tinto has to date spent in excess of 100 million dollars on activities directed towards the development of carbon capture and storage technology,” Kenyon-Slaney said. “We have committed six million dollars to support the Otway Project in Victoria—Australia’s first demonstration of geological carbon dioxide storage.”
Calling the Australian government’s Energy White Paper—set to be released in September—a “valuable opportunity for a reality check on Australia’s approach to the future of its energy sector,” Kenyon-Slaney said the white paper is “an opportunity to recognize the important role coal will play in the global energy mix in the immediate future and for many decades to come. And it is an opportunity to formally acknowledge that Australia must be an active participant in finding the solutions that will ultimately address climate change.”
