The Australia Institute made a submission to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee’s inquiry into the Coal-Fired Power Funding Prohibition Bill 2017. The submission highlights our existing research on Australia’s energy market and coal-fired power generation.

A coal phase out by 2030 is needed to meet our Paris Agreement commitments. Coal communities are better served by funding for a just transition than subsidies for coal plants. Australia’s coal plants break down often, and new plants are some of the most likely to break down. Australia’s poor history of carbon capture and storage shows that recent government involvement in coal power has been expensive and unsuccessful.