Coal power plants get go ahead

No new coal-fired power stations will be built in Britain unless they are equipped with technology to capture at least a quarter of their carbon emissions, the climate change secretary has said.

This heralds a change in government policy for the government, after the plants were expected to get the green light.

Ed Miliband revealed that four new coal power plants would be built in the UK but that they will have to extract and bury all their greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

The four new plants will be built if fitted with the technology to trap and store their carbon dioxide emmissions underground.

The government has said that should the plans work, CCS will be installed across all new coal-fired power plants to cover emissions within five years once proven.

Consumers will subsidise the building of the plans through power companies.

This will cost an additional £8 to the average bill by 2020, funding being received by stations for 10 to 15 years.

But the Daily Telegraph suggests that carbon capture and storage technology is "unproven on a large scale", quoting environmentalists who condemn the scheme as a "massive gamble".

The paper added that £90m of investment was announced in the Budget towards research on carbon storage.

Miliband, at the policy launch, stated: "CCS is the only technology with the potential to reduce emissions from fossil fuels by up to 90 per cent."

He told MPs the move would signal the "era of unabated coal is coming to an end, and a new low carbon future for coal with CCS can begin".

Greenpeace executive director, John Sauven welcomed the announcement with caution

"At least Ed Miliband is demonstrating welcome signs of climate leadership," he said.

But he warned that for every tonne of carbon captured before 2020, three would be released in the atmosphere.