Friday 21 Oct 2011 @ 12:04
WiredGov Newswire (news from other organisations)
WiredGov Newswire (news from other organisations)
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Frustration as carbon capture project fails
The future development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in the UK has been left in the air recently with the announcement that ScottishPower’s Longannet coal-fired power station in Fife has withdrawn from the UK CCS funding competition.
The announcement means the competition now has no entries. Longannet was in line for a £1bn grant as the only finalist left a UK government CCS competition which has been running since 2007.
Nick Molho, head of energy policy at WWF-UK, said: "This announcement is very frustrating and damaging for the credibility of the UK CCS demonstration programme, especially as Longannet was an ideal choice for a demonstration site. There’s a real need to get a well-focused CCS demonstration project off the ground so we can determine whether the technology could indeed play a useful role in decarbonising our power system by 2030, as recommended by the Committee on Climate Change.
WWF said that the withdrawal of Longannet comes at a worrying time when the Government is sending very mixed messages on its climate change commitments and its ambition of becoming the greenest Government ever.
Nick Molho continued: "Given the troubles facing the nuclear industry, and the delays to the CCS programme, the only rational response is for the Government to redouble efforts on energy efficiency and clean renewable energy. This is the sure-fire way of keeping the lights on, avoiding costly gas dependency and meeting our carbon reduction targets."
A report by WWF previously found Longannet power station to the best value option for UK Government trials to capture carbon emissions 1. The environmental group warned that other sites being considered would result in vastly higher carbon emissions, equivalent to Scotland's total annual emissions in 2050.
Notes to editors
1. WWF’s report ‘Carbon Choices - options for demonstrating carbon capture and storage in the UK power sector' was based on analysis of the potential impact of the CCS demonstration projects on overall GB power sector CO2 emissions commissioned from IPA Energy + Water Economics. The report analysed the entries in the Government's Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) competition and concluded that doing the trial at Longannet would be the only choice that actually reduced emissions overall. http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/carbon_choices__final_.pdf
Contact
George Smeeton, Senior Press Officer WWF-UK
Tel: 01483 412 388, Mob: 07917 052 948, email: GSmeeton@wwf.org.uk
