Government 'clean coal' push would be likely to make Australia's emissions worse | Tristan Edis

Coalition plan for more efficient coal plants could well increase emissions in a sector that is the second most polluting in the developed world

The government has indicated it will act to allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to finance new coal-fired power plants on the basis that these coal plants have lower emissions than existing coal power plants.

While such power plants may have lower emissions than Australia's ageing and extremely inefficient existing coal plants, they would most likely increase Australia's emissions rather than decrease them. And this is in a context where Australia's electricity supply is the second most polluting in the developed world (beaten only by Estonia).