gassed up, page-6

6ULDV8

"Has anyone been paying any attention to the carbon tax debate. Heard a bit of an interview today and it seems to me that the whole point is to move the price of coal up so as to make gas the most commercial choice for energy generation.
"

Correct 6ULDV8! The theory is that by charging for the "true cost" of energy (including the environmental cost) the energy polluting producers "real cost" increases to the point that the cost of alternative "emissions free" energy is competitive, thus providing some motivation for investment into the industry.

With regard to NG, it's obviously very political on both a local and global scale. The short, non political summary is ............

Globally, carbon dioxide emissions on a "whole of life" basis is estimated to be between 25% and 50% of oil/coal.

25% estimate coming from the "industry experts" and the 50% estimate coming from the "green experts", so it is fair to assume the truth lays somewhere in between.

Globally, NG is seen as the perfect "transition energy" in that it is readily available using current technology and will result in emissions reductions of at least 50%. The theory is that this can be used over the next 20-30 years whilst we move towards zero emissions technology.

Locally, the Gillard government would like a carbon tax placed onto the NG industry as well and obviously the industry is arguing that it should be exempt given that a) it is a relatively greener energy and b) the critical role that NG is likely to play during the transition stage.