Alan Finkel steps up as science chief

“It’s something that absolutely should be considered for a low emissions or a zero emissions future, but it’s not the only way forward”, he said. Nuclear energy should be considered along with Solar and wind, he said.

“The AAS and ATSE have never been closer; we have worked together well on important issues facing Australia’s research community, including our recent partnership on the Science in Australia Gender Equity initiative”.

Dozens of prominent Australians including academics, scientists, church leaders, bankers, authors and a rugby star Tuesday called on Australian and other world leaders to ban new coal mines at climate talks in Paris next month.

Monash University chancellor Dr Alan Finkel has been announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as Australia’s next chief scientist, replacing Ian Chubb.

The President of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Andrew Holmes, said Dr Finkel was an excellent choice for the position.

“My vision is for a country… where we don’t use any coal, oil, natural gas”, said Finkel adding that it is “not unreasonable” to look at nuclear energy as a viable option.

The letter – also backed by former RBA governor Bernie Fraser and Nobel Prize victor Peter Doherty – urges leaders to put coal exports on the agenda at the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Paris.

But he said this could be a long way from becoming a reality. “Having said that, the pace of technological development in the renewable space has been extraordinary”.

“Moderation is probably the best approach”, he said.

“However, if you are in a remote community, or if you are in a community in a developing country where there is no electricity grid, and the alternative is generating power by burning diesel, then solar panels and a few batteries, if the efficiency of the panels is improved and the price and efficiency of the batteries has come down could actually be and very often is much more cost effective”. One, the $16bn Carmichael project in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, was last week given final approval by Mr Turnbull’s government. But analysts have disputed the claimed benefits on the basis that many remote villages are beyond the reach of the electricity grid.

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP says Dr Finkel will play a vital role in shaping Australia’s economic future and leading our national conversation on science, innovation and commercialisation.

Sir Gustav Nossal, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Melbourne, said that beyond Dr Finkel’s scientific research and business achievements, he was a “person of the highest intelligence, integrity and imagination”.

Finkel, whose appointment begins in January upon the expiry of Professor Ian Chubb’s five-year term, would not give an opinion about the adequacy of the government’s 2030 target of reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions to 26% to 28% below 2005 levels.