BHP CEO Says Australia Needs to Look Beyond Coal for Power

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, said Australia needs to move away from coal as its main source of power to avoid competitive disadvantage once a global price on carbon emerges.

“With about 90 percent of the carbon emissions from our electricity sector coming from coal-fired power stations, Australia will need to look beyond just coal towards the full spectrum of available energy solutions,” Marius Kloppers, chief executive officer of the Melbourne-based company, said today. “Failure to do so will place us at a competitive disadvantage in a future where carbon is priced globally.”