The Federal Government’s Future Gas Strategy locks in fossil fuel expansion until 2050 and ignores the fact that the vast majority of Australia’s gas is used for exports, according to analysis from the Australia Institute.
The plan relies on the false promise of carbon capture and storage to justify fossil fuel expansion. Chevron’s recently approved Gorgon LNG Stage 2 expansion will release 3 billion tonnes over the next five decades; Chevron’s CCS program has, by contrast, sequestered just over 9 million tonnes to date (and will only capture about 100 million tonnes over the life of the system).
“The world has just experienced its hottest April on record and the Australian Government is doubling down on fossil fuel expansion. It’s scientifically and economically reckless,” said Polly Hemming, climate & energy program director at the Australia Institute.
“To be clear, Australia has more than enough gas. In fact, the gas industry itself is the biggest user of Australia’s gas, which they use for export production.
“It is a flawed argument to say that Australia needs more fossil fuels to become a renewable energy superpower. First, we had the “gas-fired recovery,” and now we have “gas-fired renewables.” It is as if the Coalition Government never left.
“It’s not just Australians who are facing the burden of climate change; this affects the countries the Australian Government has gone to pains to describe as its so-called ‘family’.
“Foreign Minister Penny Wong is currently in Tuvalu, witnessing how rising sea levels consume entire Pacific Island communities while our resources minister suggests we cannot leave Korean and Japanese companies without Australian gas.
“Australia wants to host a UN climate conference in 2026 in partnership with its ‘Pacific family’ while also being one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters.
“The Government has been wilfully ignorant to the pleas of Pacific Island nations for years, so it is peculiar that the welfare of Korean and Japanese gas executives has suddenly become a national priority.”
