By Paul Eccleston
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 22/07/2008
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 22/07/2008
MPs have called on the Government to get tough with coal-fired power plants. They say coal power stations should be given a deadline to adopt carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology or face closure.
By setting a limit of capturing at least 90 per cent of carbon emissions the Government would send out a strong signal to the power generation industry that it has to clean up its act.
Chimneys of coal-fired Drax power station near Selby, Yorkshire
But if it allows coal stations - a major source of CO2 emissions in the UK - to continue unabated then it is likely to miss its own carbon reduction targets.
The warnings come in a new report from the Environmental Audit Committee which slams the Government for its slow process in developing CCS which has the potential to cut emissions from coal plants by 90 per cent.
It involves the removal, capture and storage of CO2 from coal before or after it is burnt and then stored in natural geological caverns deep underground.
But the Committee claims Whitehall dithering means that a demonstration plant won't be operational much before 2015 and wide-scale deployment could be as far away as 2020.
And their report warns:
"Until CCS is developed, all existing and new coal-fired power stations will be running unabated, with all the negative environmental impact this entails.
"We cannot emphasise strongly enough that the possibility of CCS should not be used as a fig leaf to give unabated coal-fired power stations an appearance of environmental acceptability.
"This increasing acceptance of coal gives us cause for considerable concern. It is based on security and affordability rather than environmental concerns; emissions reductions through CCS are no more than a promise for the future, and a long way from being a certainty.
"We are concerned that coal is being embraced as the line of least resistance, regardless of the damaging environmental consequences.
"Although our support for the development of CCS necessarily implies an acceptance of the continuing role of coal, coal plant must be developed with extreme caution, and with due regard for its substantial environmental implications."
The select committee report claims there is a danger that the development of new coal-fired power stations could leave the UK 'locked-in' to high levels of emissions for decades to come. It says the Government must make clear that it will not permit the operation of unabated coal-fired power stations in the longer-term.
The Chairman of the Committee, Tim Yeo, said: "Carbon capture and storage has undoubted potential, but there is a real question about when it will become technologically and, equally importantly, commercially viable. We cannot afford to develop new coal-fired power stations when we have no guarantee about when they will be fitted with CCS, if at all.
"It is absolutely crucial for the Government to take a strong line on this. It must tell the industry that carbon capture and storage will be required, and that coal-fired power stations will not be permitted to operate unabated.
"By setting a deadline for power stations to meet a certain emissions standard, the development and deployment of CCS will be given a much needed push in the right direction, and the environmental damage caused by these stations will be minimised."
Chimneys of coal-fired Drax power station near Selby, Yorkshire
But if it allows coal stations - a major source of CO2 emissions in the UK - to continue unabated then it is likely to miss its own carbon reduction targets.
The warnings come in a new report from the Environmental Audit Committee which slams the Government for its slow process in developing CCS which has the potential to cut emissions from coal plants by 90 per cent.
It involves the removal, capture and storage of CO2 from coal before or after it is burnt and then stored in natural geological caverns deep underground.
But the Committee claims Whitehall dithering means that a demonstration plant won't be operational much before 2015 and wide-scale deployment could be as far away as 2020.
And their report warns:
"Until CCS is developed, all existing and new coal-fired power stations will be running unabated, with all the negative environmental impact this entails.
"We cannot emphasise strongly enough that the possibility of CCS should not be used as a fig leaf to give unabated coal-fired power stations an appearance of environmental acceptability.
"This increasing acceptance of coal gives us cause for considerable concern. It is based on security and affordability rather than environmental concerns; emissions reductions through CCS are no more than a promise for the future, and a long way from being a certainty.
"We are concerned that coal is being embraced as the line of least resistance, regardless of the damaging environmental consequences.
"Although our support for the development of CCS necessarily implies an acceptance of the continuing role of coal, coal plant must be developed with extreme caution, and with due regard for its substantial environmental implications."
The select committee report claims there is a danger that the development of new coal-fired power stations could leave the UK 'locked-in' to high levels of emissions for decades to come. It says the Government must make clear that it will not permit the operation of unabated coal-fired power stations in the longer-term.
The Chairman of the Committee, Tim Yeo, said: "Carbon capture and storage has undoubted potential, but there is a real question about when it will become technologically and, equally importantly, commercially viable. We cannot afford to develop new coal-fired power stations when we have no guarantee about when they will be fitted with CCS, if at all.
"It is absolutely crucial for the Government to take a strong line on this. It must tell the industry that carbon capture and storage will be required, and that coal-fired power stations will not be permitted to operate unabated.
"By setting a deadline for power stations to meet a certain emissions standard, the development and deployment of CCS will be given a much needed push in the right direction, and the environmental damage caused by these stations will be minimised."
Posts
