There's no such thing as clean coal, says West Australian premier Colin Barnett, placing him at odds with his federal Liberal counterparts.
Mr Barnett dismissed the notion of clean coal when outlining the balance of energy production in WA, saying more than half of the state's energy came from natural gas, which he described as a clean technology.
"I mean, all this stuff about clean coal, no such thing as clean coal," Mr Barnett said.
"Natural gas is clean, produces less than half of the emissions of a coal power station so it's a good technology to use."
Mr Barnett said if re-elected his Liberal government would move to balance energy production between gas, renewable and coal.
Mr Barnett's comments on clean coal differ with those of his federal counterparts, who are working to finance new coal-fired power.
The federal government is exploring how it can allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in the so-called ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants and carbon capture and storage.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is currently in Indonesia, was unavailable for comment.
