The UK Government has announced its awaited consultation on a framework for the development of clean coal, claiming that leadership in this sector could create a £2-4 billion industry and 60,000 new jobs by 2030.
The Government in April 2009 outlined a new regime for new coal-fired power stations recognising that in the short term coal was the cheapest way of securing energy.
However, it also recognised that coal emits more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity produced than all other forms of energy generation and, with the global use of coal as a fuel for electricity generation expected to increase over the coming decades, there was an urgent need to develop technologies that tackle emissions. The framework, announced today, for consultation set outs in more detail ihow the Government is seeking to tackle the issue.
The consultation sets out the UK’s intention to invigorate global action on Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) as well as bring direct benefits to the UK by placing the UK firmly at the forefront of a technology area that could develop into a multi-billion global market. The proposals under consultation include:
- Providing financial support for up to four commercial-scale CCS demonstrations in Britain, including the CCS demonstration competition that we launched in 2007, covering a range of CCS technologies;
- Requiring any new coal power station in England and Wales to demonstrate CCS on a defined part of its capacity;
- Requiring new coal power stations to retrofit CCS to their full capacity within five years of CCS being independently judged technically and economically proven. We will plan on the basis that CCS will be proven by 2020;
- Preparing for the possibility that CCS will not become proven as early as we expect.
The consultation opened on 17th June, and will run for a period of 12 weeks until 9th September 2009. We would welcome your input into the consultation process. The consultation document can be found at: www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/open/open.aspx. A response can be submitted by email:
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