Desalination a greenhouse nightmare - 29 May 2005

Desalination to need massive tree planting back up

A forest almost eight times the size of Royal National Park would need to be planted to absorb the greenhouse gases a $2 billion desalination plant for Sydney would generate, Greens MLC Ian Cohen said today.

“A desalination plant producing 500 million litres of fresh water a day would create more than 1.25 million tonnes of greenhouse emissions each year. Unless the NSW Government can find clean, renewable energy to run such a plant, this would be the equivalent of putting 250,000 new cars on the road each year.”

Mr Cohen said planting trees to offset the greenhouse emissions would be a daunting task.

“A hectare of trees can absorb 11 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year, meaning a forest almost two-thirds the size of Sydney or eight times the size of Royal National Park would need to be planted.”

Mr Cohen said step-pricing, minimum performance standards for water appliances and permanent low-level water restrictions would not only produce no greenhouse gases but would save more water than a desalination plant would create.

“Figures given to the Government during the preparation of its water policy last year showed that water saving initiatives would save 58 billion litres of water a year by 2029, significantly more than the amount produced by a desalination plant.”


Further Information: Paul Sheridan, 0410 516 656