Environment group Greenpeace says governments are wasting public money on carbon capture and storage (CCS) research.
Carbon capture and storage is the process through which emissions from power stations would be captured and then stored underground to reduce carbon pollution.
The Victorian and federal governments have invested millions of dollars into CCS research.
However, Greenpeace says the collapse of CCS projects overseas and in Australia shows the technology is commercially unviable.
Julian Vincent of Greenpeace says governments are paying an unfair share of the research bill because the coal power industry is unwilling to invest.
He says taxpayer money would be better spent on renewable energy projects such as solar and wind.
“We need technologies, we need solutions that are on the table, that can be implemented in the next few years, if not already,” he said.
“Germany, Spain, even China are basically whipping our backside when it comes to renewable energy.
“These are technologies that are working, technologies that would work just fine in Australia.
“Unfortunately, a lot of our money, and unfortunately too much public money, is being tied up in this industrial fantasy.
“This myth that is being purported about carbon capture and storage coming along and saving everything is basically hoodwinking coal communities into believing that, ‘don’t worry guys, carry on as usual. This technology will come along and everything will be hunky-dory’.”
A Victorian-based carbon capture and storage research project has questioned Greenpeace’s findings.
Chief executive Richard Aldous from CO2 cooperative research centre near Warrnambool says CCS is a viable option to slow climate change.
“All of the research that we’re seeing is indicating that CCS is neck and neck with renewables in terms of its ability to contribute to climate change,” he said.
