A senior economist advising Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull on the federal government’s emissions trading scheme has warned that a key component of the coalition’s climate policy has yet to be scientifically proven.
The Australian Financial Review reports that Centre for International Economics executive director David Pearce has said biochar, which involves storing carbon in soil, requires more scientific analysis and would work only if Australia adopts a carbon price.
But Mr Pearce condemned the government’s handling of the ETS debate, claiming it had failed to provide any analysis on the short-term costs of the reform or whether other mechanisms, such as a carbon tax or a hybrid scheme, could cut greenhouse emissions more cheaply.
Mr Turnbull has claimed the coalition’s climate policy could deliver deeper emission cuts at less cost to industry by placing greater emphasis on measures such as energy efficiency, soil carbon sequestration and biochar.
But Mr Pearce told the committee that although biochar had potential, it was not yet ready.
“I’m not sure that all the science is in,” he said. “In order for [biochar] to be economic, you would need to have a carbon price in place.”