Government advisers call for coal emission standards

The campaign to introduce carbon emission standards for new coal and gas fired power plants has been backed by the government's own advisory body, the Sustainable Development Commission.

These would effectively ban all new plants built without carbon capture and storage (CCS) capabilities.

The Commission has reportedly submitted a paper to the Scottish Parliament's climate change committee, warning that relying on the EU's carbon cap-and-trade scheme to encourage energy firms to fit CCS to new plants may not be enough.

It also says that guaranteed emission standards will be required to ensure the technology is adopted; large-scale deployments of the technology remain uncosted and untested and; as such, no new plants should be approved without binding guarantees that CCS will be deployed.

The Commission's advice mirrors that of the Environmental Audit Committee of MPs which last year similarly called for emission standards to be adopted.

The Conservative Party has also pledged to introduce emission standards for new plants, modelled on those pioneered in California by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of 500kg of CO2 per MW/h of power.

This would effectively ban the building of new coal-fired power stations that emit between 700kg and 850kg of CO2 per MW/h, and new oil-fired stations that emit 590kg per MW/h, while allowing cleaner gas-fired power stations and plants with CCS systems fitted.

The government has launched a competition for a £1bn demonstration CCS plant, but has maintained that banning new coal plants could result in an energy gap. It argues that the price on carbon emissions imposed through the EU's emissions trading scheme will encourage energy firms to fit the technology without the need for additional legislation.