Coal power plants get go ahead with carbon capture

With a £90 million budget extension in 2009 the Government has announced that Britain will have four completed CCS (carbon capture and storage) coal burning plants constructed by 2020.

The move comes accompanied by a varying degree of opposition as environmentalists protest that the CCS technology has not been entirely proven to release lower carbon emissions.

There is also considerable worry that the coal plants will not properly store carbon emissions.

The Lib-dems are also concerned the Government is overstepping its boundaries by taking control of the coal business and dictating the way the coal industry must build and control factories, as well as the standards associated with pollution.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Millband, stated that if successful CSC technology could reduce CO2 emissions by 90% if it is continually used in place of current coal burning plants.

The CCS technology aims to store carbon dioxide that is created from coal burning underground, instead of releasing it into the air, thus reducing the effects on climate change.

By the year 2020 citizens can expect to see a 2% increase in electricity bill costs to pay for the operation and completion of the CSC coal projects.

Concern is also widespread over the amount of coal emissions that will continue to go into the air as the CSC coal plants are outfitted with full CSC capture technology.

It is estimated that leading up to the completion over 275 tons of CO2 emissions could be released making up 50% of the UK’s emissions when the emissions budget is supposed to be reduced by a third before 2020.

There is also concern that if the CSC technology fails the coal powered stations will be allowed to continue to release emissions into the air, contributing to CO2 emissions increasing, instead of reducing the amount.

The Environment Agency has the role of making the final decision on switching to full CSC capture when they feel the technology is working correctly.