Lord Stern welcomes Government's pledge on coal-fired power stations

THURSDAY 23 APRIL 2009

Lord Stern of Brentford today (23 April 2009) congratulated Ed Miliband, the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for announcing that any new coal-fired power stations built in the UK will be fully equipped with technology to capture and store carbon dioxide within five years of it having been proven technically and commercially.

Lord Stern, who chairs the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, said: “Today’s pledge on new coal-fired power stations, together with the expansion in financial support for carbon capture and storage projects announced in yesterday’s Budget, is a major step forward and can put the UK in the lead in this very important area.

“The UK will be setting an example on carbon capture and storage that other countries can follow, and we should make every effort to share the technology that we develop. Globally over the next 10 years, we need to pilot about 30 full-scale power stations fitted with technology for carbon capture and storage, to allow for regional variations in geology, types of coal and degrees of success, if we are going to explore properly its full potential.

“Rich countries, like the UK, need to lead on the development of this technology if we are to demonstrate to countries like China and India that it is viable. The Budget yesterday proposed that the UK will build up to four full-scale demonstration plants for carbon capture and storage, which would represent more than 10 per cent of the total number we need worldwide to provide the evidence base for commercialisation.

“The implementation of technology for carbon capture and storage must be rapid once it has been commercially proven and all new stations in the UK should be fully equipped with it by the early 2020s at the latest.

“Inevitably there will be additional costs for taxpayers and consumers, through prices and public expenditure, arising from investments in new technologies like carbon capture and storage to help the UK make the transition to a low-carbon economy. But there will be eventual benefits, not least because these technologies will help to lower the risks from climate change.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
   
    
2. The ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy is hosted by the University of Leeds and the London School of Economics and Political Science. It was officially launched at the University of Leeds on 27 January 2009. The Centre is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and Munich Re