WWF-UK: WWF calls for emissions controls on coal-fired power stations
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WWF calls for emissions controls on coal-fired power stations
Wednesday 2 July 2008
WWF-UK has highlighted the risk of committing the UK to a new generation of coal-fired power stations without providing legal limits on carbon emissions.
Concerns were raised after the government launched a public consultation this week on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) policy, just a few days after publishing its plans for a renewable energy revolution in the UK.
CCS is a process for trapping CO2 generated by coal-fired power stations and transporting it to underground geological sinks for storage. However, CCS technology has yet to be demonstrated on a large-scale power plant anywhere in the world.
With the power sector responsible for one third of UK emissions in 2007, WWF believes there needs to be a rapid decarbonisation of this sector and that renewables and greater energy efficiency should form the bulk of the shift. Fossil fuels, such as coal, could also play a role but only if they use proven and controlled CCS from the outset.
CCS ready?
The government consultation is seeking views on the proposed EU legislation on the regulation of CCS and on what the term 'CCS ready' might mean in practice.
Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK, said: "At present, the concept of CCS readiness does little more than refer to the need for power plants to leave space for CCS equipment to be retrofitted in the future. There's no deadline for conversion to full-scale CCS, let alone any guarantee that this would then ever be met.
"Reliance on an as yet unproven technology, however promising it may be, is a risky business. The future of the planet's climate cannot rely on good intentions."
Legal limits
WWF-UK is calling on the government to include legal limits in the current Energy Bill on the amount of CO2 that new and replacement power stations can emit. This kind of emissions standard is already in force in California and other US states are following suit.
Allott concluded: "If oil and power companies believe that CCS is key to the future of their fossil fuel business models then they should invest heavily in making sure CCS technology is workable, rather than leaving it to the taxpayer, and ultimately the environment, to foot the bill in the future."
CCS is a process for trapping CO2 generated by coal-fired power stations and transporting it to underground geological sinks for storage. However, CCS technology has yet to be demonstrated on a large-scale power plant anywhere in the world.
With the power sector responsible for one third of UK emissions in 2007, WWF believes there needs to be a rapid decarbonisation of this sector and that renewables and greater energy efficiency should form the bulk of the shift. Fossil fuels, such as coal, could also play a role but only if they use proven and controlled CCS from the outset.
CCS ready?
The government consultation is seeking views on the proposed EU legislation on the regulation of CCS and on what the term 'CCS ready' might mean in practice.
Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK, said: "At present, the concept of CCS readiness does little more than refer to the need for power plants to leave space for CCS equipment to be retrofitted in the future. There's no deadline for conversion to full-scale CCS, let alone any guarantee that this would then ever be met.
"Reliance on an as yet unproven technology, however promising it may be, is a risky business. The future of the planet's climate cannot rely on good intentions."
Legal limits
WWF-UK is calling on the government to include legal limits in the current Energy Bill on the amount of CO2 that new and replacement power stations can emit. This kind of emissions standard is already in force in California and other US states are following suit.
Allott concluded: "If oil and power companies believe that CCS is key to the future of their fossil fuel business models then they should invest heavily in making sure CCS technology is workable, rather than leaving it to the taxpayer, and ultimately the environment, to foot the bill in the future."
"Reliance on an as yet unproven technology, however promising it may be, is a risky business."
Keith Allott, head of climate change, WWF-UK
Related links
- Government plans could spark 'green energy revolution'
- Carbon capture and storage: is the UK ready?
- Read the report Evading Capture
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