Report calls for urgent clean coal technology

A committee set up by the Government to advise on climate change has recommended that no new coal-fired power stations should be built unless they can be fitted with carbon capture technology by the early 2020s.

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor Last Updated: 8:15PM GMT 01 Dec 2008

Plans for several coal-fired generators are in the pipeline, including E.ON's Kingsnorth project in Kent, which environmentalists said was "dead in the water" if the Government adopted the recommendations.
In its report yesterday, the Committee for Climate Change, chaired by Lord Turner, set out a "road map" for Britain to de-carbonise its economy over the next decades.
The report, which received a broad welcome from industry, recommended huge investments in alternative energies and highlighted the importance of nuclear generation in reducing C02 emissions.
But Lord Turner said carbon capture and storage technology, which is not yet commercially viable, was essential if more coal generation is approved.
E.ON would not say whether it will go ahead with Kingsnorth, seen as a test case for new coal plants, saying only that the group is trying to give Britain the balanced, low-carbon energy mix it needs.
"We're pleased that the report confirms future needs for all forms of clean energy generation, such as nuclear, renewables and fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage," said an E.ON spokesman.
John Sauven, executive director at Greenpeace, said: "Assuming the Government accepts the advice of its own climate change committee, Kingsnorth is dead in the water."
The UK coal industry is making a minor comeback, with local authorities reporting a record number of planning applications to start open-cast mining.
The EEF manufacturers' organisation said yesterday that it welcomed Lord Turner's report. "Climate change is a science and engineering problem and therefore industry will be the solution to the issues we face rather than the cause," said EEF chief executive Gilbert Toppin.
However, the EEF added that there were still a number of unanswered questions, such as whether the UK has the capacity to build and install renewable wind-power generation between now and 2020. Billions of pounds needs to be invested in wind power, seen as key to Britain meeting carbon emissions reduction targets.