Rio Tinto, one of Australia’s largest coal producers, has found an alternate means to combat climate change, and that is –  initiation of clean coal technologies. The mining giant said that developing the technology was a challenge tougher than the first moon landing.

Harry Kenyon-Slaney, the firm’s chief executive of energy, said that any systematic plan to extenuate climate change wouldn’t bring any changes as it was not based on accurate analysis and facts. He also compared the twin challenges of meeting the world’s energy needs, including growing demand from Asia, mainly China and India – as coal would still be the dominant source of energy; and combating climate change to the difficulties the US had to overcome for the 1969 lunar mission.

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He said that the challenge now faced by the whole world is far more urgent and important, but it can be solved by the same methodical, determined process. The world has no choice.

“Climate change must be tackled by a concerted campaign of community, science, government and business, acting in unison to ward off a very serious global threat,” he said.

According to the report released by World Meteorological Organization, Kenyon-Slaney said that the main culprit of global warming is concentrations of CO2, soaring to a new high in 2013.

He also said he stood for the development of all kind of power-generating technologies including renewable although he describes emission-driven climate change as among the world’s biggest and most pressing problems.

“The abundance of coal meant it would remain the world’s main source of “large-scale, reliable, affordable energy”, he said.

Progress in research and development in carbon capture and storage technology, known as CCS, is the key solution addressing climate concerns around coal use. This technology captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from a fossil-fuel power station, then transports it to a storage site and prevents the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere.

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Kenyon-Slaney said that CCS is technically available and we simply must create and develop technologies that allow us to liberate the transformative energy stored in coal reserves while massively reducing the volume of CO2 set loose in our atmosphere.

He picked apart “climate warriors” on both sides of the global warming debate, and said the world should be focusing on power-generating solutions instead.

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