Report claims energy security fears do not justify coal expansion

The government must not allow the construction of new coal-fired power plants until Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology has been proven to be effective, according to a major new study by climate experts.

The report from the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit at Sussex University claims the government should instead look to enhance the gas storage network to improve energy security while the renewable and nuclear sector are given time to come online.

The government is currently faced with a decision on whether to give the go-ahead to the first new coal-fired power plant to be built in the UK for 30 years at Kingsnorth in Kent.

Supporters of the proposals claim a new generation of coal-fired power stations are required to avoid energy shortages over the next decade, arguing that CCS technology can be added at a later date to curb emissions from such plants.

But the University of Sussex team, led by Jim Watson, claims that stronger guarantees that CCS will be fitted are required and calls for legally binding standards that would effectively ban coal-fired plants without CCS.

The report argues that without such measures the UK's target to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 will be put in jeopardy.

"The move to an 80% reduction target for 2050 is welcome, but it is equally important that short term policy decisions are consistent with this goal," says the report.

"Allowing Kingsnorth to go ahead in the absence of adequate guarantees that CCS will be fitted would call this into question," it adds.

The report also takes issue with government claims that new coal-fired plants are required to enhance energy security and limit the country's reliance on Russian gas imports.

"An important subtext of this argument is that this over-dependence would be on Russia," the report says. "But the government’s own consultants have projected a diversified mix of imported gas over the next decade or so, with only a small proportion likely to come from Russia."

CCS is an immature technology - the first working demonstration plant at Schwarze Pumpe in Germany only became fully operational this week and most experts think the technology is at least five years away from widescale commercial deployment.

It is seen as crucial to the success of global emission reduction goals by bodies such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), largely because coal will remain the cheapest way of producing power for some time, and emerging economies such as China and India are committed to continuing to harness coal power for years rto come.