Half of British public would support coal plants with CCS, survey finds

That is according to a new report published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), which surveyed more than 2,000 people in July.

Jenifer Baxter, head of energy and environment at the IMechE, said carbon capture and storage (CCS) offered “huge potential” for retroactively decarbonising the UK’s existing fleet, as well as offering the potential to build new low-carbon power plants fuelled by gas.

Baxter continued: “These results show that this sort of negative emissions technology also has broad support from the public. If the Government is serious about providing a secure and diverse electricity system, it must focus on reducing energy demand, improving energy efficiency and introducing carbon capture and storage.”

The report revealed that 22% of the public would not approve of new coal-fired plants with CCS, while the remaining 28% said they did not know.

The report also showed that 35% think the Government’s first priority for electricity should be generating enough to meet domestic and industrial needs, while 32% said the priority should be generating electricity which has the least impact on the climate.

Just under one quarter (23%) said the top priority should be generating electricity which is cheapest for the consumer. The remaining 10% gave no firm opinion.

Baxter said: “Despite much of the public and political debate over electricity centring on the issue of pricing, the public viewed this as a less important issue than security of supply or the impact on climate change.

“As we prepare to leave the EU, a clear energy policy which focuses on energy efficiency, energy security and mitigating the impact on the environment is more important than ever.”