Speaking at Parliament House, Dr Finkel said it was "critically important" that Australia reduced its carbon emissions. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Alan Finkel address the media in Canberra on Tuesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "My vision is for a country, society and world where we don't use any coal, oil or natural gas, where we have zero emissions electricity," Dr Finkel told reporters. "But you can't get there overnight." He said the best way of getting to zero-emissions was by introducing viable alternatives, not just turning away from coal. He said nuclear should "absolutely be considered" as one of those alternatives if demand for energy increased but stressed the cost of building the required infrastructure would be large.

"But it's not the only way forward, with enough storage we can do it in this country with solar and wind," he said. Professor Ian Chubb's tenure as Chief Scientist is coming to an end. Credit:Melissa Adams Mr Turnbull also stressed the improving economic viability of solar energy. He also strongly defended the coal industry against a push for a moratorium on new Australian coal mines. "It would make not the blindest bit of difference to global emissions," he said.

"If Australia stopped exporting coal the countries to which we export, they would simply buy it from somewhere else." It would make not the blindest bit of difference to global emissions He added that Australian coal was cleaner than the coal exported by some of Australia's rivals and said a moratorium could actually lead to higher global emissions. Sixty-one prominent Australians, including rugby star David Pocock, have signed an open letter calling on Mr Turnbull to ban new coal mines and push for an international ban on coal. "Coal is a very important part of the energy agenda," Mr Turnbull said.

"Energy poverty is one of the big limits on global development." But he said the pace of improvements in renewable technology and storage had been "extraordinary". Finkel to link business with research Dr Finkel is an engineer, neuroscientist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne said Dr Finkel's top priority would be to link business and science.

"Alan Finkel is a living example of how to commercialise research, how to have the interface between businesses and universities to make the sciences very real for people," Mr Pyne said. "We have demonstrably appointed him as a signal to the sector that we want science and business to be very much focussed together in this country to create jobs, to create growth." Mr Turnbull said collaboration between Australia's universities, research centres and industries was "weak". Dr Finkel was selected after a search that included international candidates. Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook