Miliband promises carbon capture for new coal power stations

Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, said that all new coal power stations will employ carbon capture technology as part of the government’s drive to cut carbon emissions.

The DECC secretary has said that such a move could make the UK a world leader in carbon capture technology, and that no new coal power station will be built without CCS demonstration from “day one”.

Miliband said: “CCS is the only technology with the potential to reduce emissions from fossil fuels by up to 90%. But there must be a global effort to develop this technology and the UK is in a strong position to lead this charge. This signals the era of unabated coal is coming to an end, and a new low carbon future for coal with CCS can begin.”

The secretary also proposed a full scale retrofit of CCS within five years of the technology being independently judged as technically and commercially proven.

The secretary’s proposals will form part of a consultation that will be released in the summer, along with an environmental report.

The new demonstrations will be funded by the incentive mechanism as announced by the Chancellor in this week’s budget.