Professor Andrew Holmes, the president of the Australian Academy of Science also said Dr Finkel was an “excellent choice”. What we need to do is optimise the technology so we can cost-effectively introduce alternatives.
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“It’s something that absolutely should be considered for a low emissions or a zero emissions future, but it’s not the only way forward”, he said.
It notes that Australia has a “larger share of the seaborne coal market than Saudi Arabia has of the world oil market”. “Many reactors are being built [which will have] impact for those countries who are our trading partners”.
Dr Finkel, an engineer, neuroscientist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, said that as president of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering he had found a few academics unwilling to engage with industry.
Dr Finkel stressed he was not “coming in with magical solutions no one’s thought of” but would advise the government on a “nuanced response” to the issue.
“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.
“Solar panels and batteries in an Australian household context at the moment are probably not in most cases competitive with the price of grid-delivered power”, he said.
“It would make not the blindest bit of difference to global emissions”, he said.
“While world leaders discuss emission reduction targets, a small number of countries with large coal reserves, including Australia, are planning to massively expand their coal exports”.
New Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg, who has said there is a moral obligation to exporting coal to provide energy for millions of people without access to electricity, has been a long-time supporter of nuclear power and said in his maiden speech that it was “inexplicable that in Australia we have yet to have a constructive and thorough debate about nuclear power, the only baseload, carbon-neutral energy source”.
Dr Finkel’s appointment comes amid a call by 61 prominent Australians, including the author Richard Flanagan and Wallabies rugby player David Pocock, for a global ban on new coalmines and coalmine expansions.
“The reality is that demand for coal remains strong, particularly in Southeast Asia”, he said in a statement, adding that he believes coal will remain “a key part of the global energy mix for many years to come”.
“With great respect to the motivations and the big hearts and the idealism of the people that advocate that, that is actually not a sensible policy from an economic point of view, a jobs point of view or frankly from a global warming or global emissions point of view”.
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But he said the pace of improvements in renewable technology and storage had been “extraordinary”.
