Australia new chief scientist Tuesday envisaged a cleaner and greener future without coal.
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Australia pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by about a fourth by 2030, a target that environmental watchdogs say is not enough to limit global warming to 2 degrees Centigrade.
Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research at the University of South Australia Professor Tanya Monro said “It’s wonderful to have a Chief Scientist who is an entrepreneur and who understands on a personal level what it takes to create value from pioneering science and engineering”.
Dr Finkel has also argued that nuclear power should be considered an alternative energy source, with solar and wind failing to meet the growth in global demand for electricity if fossil fuels had to be avoided. “Including the fact we don’t yet have the infrastructure, the training – all the things that would enable it to be a viable industry”, Dr Finkel said.
“Dr Finkel is renowned for his outstanding research, industrial and entrepreneurial achievements in Australia and overseas, his leadership and service in the university and education sector, the academies and national science bodies, and his experience in providing high-quality expert advice to government”, Minister Pyne said.
“Australia has a larger share of the seaborne coal market than Saudi Arabia has of the world oil market”, it said.
As Chief Scientist, Finkel is expected to provide the government with independent advice in the fields of innovation, technology and science.
“Science as part of innovation is at the very heart of this government’s policy”, Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Pyne also praised Ian Chubb for his landmark achievements in the role.
“We actually do a very good job in fundamental research and even applied research in our research institutes”, he said.
In the 1980s, he established Axon Instruments, a company which supplies tools for cellular neuroscience and drug discovery which was later bought by a United States firm and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
“Better Place will just be shown as a company that was ahead of its time”.
Finkel, an engineer, has previously called for a debate about nuclear electricity generation in Australia as part of efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions. He is also the President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
Emeritus Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Melbourne, Sir Gustav Nossal, said Dr Finkel was “an extraordinary leader”.
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“But you can’t get there overnight, so what we need to do is optimise the technology so that with we can cost-effectively introduce alternatives”, Finkel said. “I’m confident he will speak strongly and passionately on behalf of Australian science, particularly in his advice to government”. Professor Chubb’s term concludes at the end of the year.
