{"id":13176,"date":"2017-07-14T06:17:32","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T19:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=13176"},"modified":"2017-07-14T06:19:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T19:49:01","slug":"coal-power-kills-mb0125","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/coal-power-kills-mb0125\/","title":{"rendered":"Coal Kills. That’s For Certain"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Coal

Coal kills – it’s a well established fact | Image : Mriya<\/a>, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Liberal MP Craig Kelly’s concerns about people dying as a result of high energy prices raises another issue he didn’t mention – the incredibly high death toll from coal.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Mr. Kelly raised eyebrows when he warned vulnerable Australians would die this winter due to increasing electricity costs<\/a> and linked these deaths to renewable energy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As mentioned yesterday, policy uncertainty and high gas prices<\/a> have been major drivers of recent electricity price hikes, not renewables. RenewEconomy’s Giles Parkinson also pointed out<\/a> :<\/p>\n

“.. numerous reports, including those commissioned by the Abbott government, found that renewable energy policies had minimal impact on consumer bills, and significantly reduced wholesale prices.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The very good news is renewables and storage will keep getting cheaper and the technology better.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kelly is a supporter of coal. In a radio interview<\/a> last month, he said one of the options to ensure affordable energy security in this country was “standard, old-fashioned coal fired power stations that served this nation well for decades”. Mr. Kelly\u00a0 lamented the loss of Northern and Hazelwood power stations, which he said were run out of town by respective state governments without despatchable capacity installed to replace them.<\/p>\n

He stated if renewables could provide what these stations were able to for the cheapest price, “good luck to them”, but the only possibility he could see was a “good old-fashioned coal fired power plant”.<\/p>\n

Even the high-tech low-emission power plants favoured by the interviewer but not mentioned by Mr. Kelly during the 11 minute exchange are expensive<\/a>, and low emissions means lower, not zero – unlike renewables such wind and solar power<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Human Toll Of Coal<\/h2>\n

Greens climate and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt lashed out at the comments made by Mr. Kelly yesterday concerning renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cCraig Kelly is just another ideologue, hell-bent on hastening dangerous global warming. This latest foray isn\u2019t unexpected, but it is certainly unfounded, he said<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Craig Kelly and the Trumps in the government have their way, more people will die from bushfires, heatwaves, floods and famine as dangerous global warming accelerates.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The current and future impacts of climate change and its contribution to any death toll aside, coal is already doing very well at knocking off humanity in other ways. According to EndCoal<\/a>, burning the little black (or brown) rock is responsible for more than 800,000 premature deaths annually around the world – just through air pollution.<\/p>\n