CCS legislation heads for crucial vote

The government's Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) policy faces a major test in the Commons today amid reports that a proposed amendment to the energy bill will face opposition from a group of rebel backbenchers who think plans to block future coal-fired power plants are not robust enough.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband announced last year that the government would ban any new coal plants, such as that proposed for Kingsnorth in Kent, which fail to fit CCS technology by 2025.

However, while the move was widely praised by green groups, the proposals feature a number of loopholes, including a commitment that CCS should only be installed if it is technically and financially viable. Environmentalists have warned that the caveats mean it remains unclear whether coal power plants would be able to continue to operate if CCS proved unsuccessful.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will today table an amendment to the energy bill designed to address these fears, which would require successive governments to report to parliament every three years on progress, in its efforts to decarbonise the power sector.

However, a cross-party group of MPs, including Labour backbencher Alan Simpson, along with senior Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, are expected to table an alternative amendment that would impose an "emissions performance standard" on power plants, which would allow the government to limit emissions from coal and gas plants by forcing them to install CCS systems, or even reduce how many hours they operate.

Energy companies have lobbied heavily against the amendment, arguing that any emissions standards would undermine the case for investment in new coal-fired power plants, potentially leaving the UK facing energy shortages.

Up to 20 Labour backbenchers are reportedly prepared to vote against the government's amendment. The rebellion could result in the government's proposals being defeated, but according to the Guardian the situation is further complicated by the fact that the Conservative party has not imposed a three-line whip for the vote in an attempt to avoid a row with backbenchers sceptical about David Cameron's green policies.

As a result, a significant number of Tory MPs are expected to abstain from the vote, despite members of the shadow cabinet having signalled their support for an emissions performance standard. Widespread abstentions are expected to hand a victory to the government and result in its amendment being passed.

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, told the Guardian a binding emissions performance standard would "close a major loophole that currently risks allowing big energy companies to pollute far into the future from new coal-fired power stations such as Kingsnorth". He added that similar standards were already working effectively in California and would help provide energy companies with long-term certainty at the same time as guaranteeing limits on carbon emissions.

A DECC spokesman defended the government's "world-leading CCS policy", adding that its proposed amendment to the energy bill would provide a strong safeguard by requiring ministers to report to parliament on progress towards a decarbonised energy supply.