The debate on whether Australia will have a nation-wide carbon trading scheme ended last week with the government committed to a national emissions scheme from 2012. However, the decision- making as to how we power the economy in a carbon constrained world is only just beginning. Fossil fuels like coal and oil have underpinned our economic growth and standard of living for decades. The current resources boom is there because other countries want our fossil fuels, and for all these reasons it is profitable to keep mining them. Ironically, the income may help develop the technologies to replace them, but it is a matter of which and when.
Almost certainly, in the race to reduce emissions, new technologies such as solar, wind and geothermal (heat from rocks) power will compete against gas, clean coal and perhaps nuclear energy to win the hearts and minds of the business world. In the end, business will favour whatever is a cheap, abundant and reliable solution. You can imagine the lobbying that will ensue from the different interest groups, to attract business capital and government support so that their technology wins out. There may be many collapsed ventures and lost fortunes along the way.
Question 35
Fossil fuels will be in demand for some time yet because:
A: we have no other options.
B: they are plentiful and cheap in Australia.
C: our wealth and lifestyle are at present dependent on them. D: A and B together.
E: B and C together.
Question 36
In the writer’s view ‘there may be many collapsed ventures’ along the way because:
A: cheaper fossil fuels will continue to be used for a long time.
B: business will favour existing sources, rather than undergoing expensive change. C: carbon emission rules will cripple new energy sources.
D: not all the options will be adopted, so the cheaper and more efficient will survive. E: None of these.