Greenpeace with two Thai key senate representatives held a press conference on July 16on the issue of Gecko-One coal power plant. Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior’s peaceful protest at the controversial new coal plant in Rayong, has encouraged two key representatives of the ‘Natural resource and Environment Commission’ and the ‘Sub-Commission on Good Governance of the Senate’, to call for immediate halt on the construction of the Belgian owned GHECO-One coal plant. The senate representatives have also questioned the nation’s energy policy and decision-making process for its Power Development Plan (PDP). Greenpeace is demanding massive investments in tapping the huge renewable energy potential while putting in place effective energy efficiency systems.
The Belgian company GLOW Ltd, that owns the plant responding to the Greenpeace demand, maintains that the new coal plant will be clean. But, coal is the most polluting of energy sources. However much you wash and scrub it, or attempt to bury its emissions, it still remains dirty and toxic, poisoning local communities and exacerbating climate change. Burning coal is the single biggest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and a major cause of climate change. Coal emits 29% more carbon per unit of energy than oil and 80% more than gas. The existing GLOW plant already emits 4,003,432 tons of CO2 per year