Britain does U-turn on coal

Age
Saturday 25/4/2009 Page: 15

NO NEW coal-fired power stations will be built in Britain unless they capture and bury at least 25% of greenhouse gases immediately and 100% by 2025, says Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband. In a reversal of energy policy that represents a major victory for the new Department of Energy and Climate Change and green pressure groups, the British Government will direct the building of four energy "clusters", generating a total of 2.5 billion watts of electricity, on the east coast.

Each cluster will have at least one major new coal-fired power station able to collect carbon emissions and transport them to sea, where they will be buried in redundant oil or gas fields. The new stations, the first to be built in Britain in more than 30 years, are not expected to come on stream until 2015. They will be in the Thames Gateway, on the rivers Humber and Tees and in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, with a possible fifth on Merseyside. The Government envisages oil and coal companies linking to reduce emissions from coal powered electricity generation by up to 60% by 2025.

Demanding carbon capture and storage (CCS) on all new coal plants is expected to cost about it billion ($A2 billion) for each plant and increase energy bills. Government and energy companies are in talks over how the plants will be funded, but it is expected to come from a levy on fossil fuel electricity generation. This could put 2% , or roughly ￡8 per household a year, on electricity bills by 2020.

Mr Miliband said Britain planned to lead the world in clean coal technology. "There is a massive gain we can benefit from by being in the front of this revolution," he said. "We need to signal a move away from the building of unabated coal-fired power stations because it is right for our country to drive its towards a low-carbon (economy). The change starts now."

Environmental groups were in the unusual position of joining the Confederation of British Industry in hailing a government initiative. "At last Ed Miliband is demonstrating welcome signs of climate leadership in the face of resistance from Whitehall officials and cabinet colleagues," said Greenpeace UK director John Sauven. He is the first minister to throw down the gauntlet to the energy companies and demand they start taking climate change seriously."