Carbon reduction cash is tiny next to coal subsidy Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss April 22, 2021 â 12.05am Save Normal text size Credit: The Prime Ministerâs pledge to spend $500 million on carbon reduction schemes over an unspecified period contrasts with the billions of dollars every year in subsidies to the coal industry (âPM promises $500m hydrogen, carbon fundâ, April 21). Adding insult to injury, nearly half the new expenditure is for unfeasible carbon capture schemes. To compensate for Australiaâs direct CO2 emissions we would need to capture and store more than 400 million tonnes every year. There must be better ways to reduce atmospheric CO2 than this farcical concept.