Environment Agency cool on coal-fired power

London - No new coal-fired power stations should be built unless they can capture and store carbon emissions, the Environment Agency has recommended in its response to the UK government's consultation on carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Agency also called for faster progress on proving CCS technology on a commercial scale but criticised the idea of just building plants that are carbon-capture ready as insufficient.

Building a new generation of coal fired power stations without capturing the carbon emissions would lock the UK into using high carbon technology for decades to come this is not an environmentally sustainable way of generating power given the challenges we face with climate change, said EA chairman Lord Chris Smith in a press statement.

"Although carbon capture and storage technology has been demonstrated on a small scale, there is now an urgent need for it to be demonstrated on a commercial scale," Smith explained. "Any new coal power station to be built should have a consent that requires that it helps demonstrate the technology. Such a consent should be strictly time limited and only renewed if carbon capture and storage is fully deployed."

However, the concept of carbon capture readiness - ensuring coal-fired power stations have the capability to install CCS technology at a later date should it be commercially viable - "is insufficient for the climate change challenges that we face," according to the EA statement.

"Coal-fired power stations will for a considerable time continue to be a significant part of global energy supply. However, we need to ensure that they are part of a solution to the challenges of climate change, not a problem," said Smith. "This is only possible by ensuring carbon capture and storage is quickly proven in line with the Prime Minister's recent commitment to clean coal technology. A funding mechanism will be urgently needed to support this development."