Chris Davies hails £6bn plan for carbon capture coal power

European governments have agreed to invest up to €6 billion in the development of clean coal technology, the largest programme in the world.

Proposals from the European Commission for the selection of carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects have now been accepted. The decision represented a victory for North West Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies, who first introduced the idea of funding for the work from the sale of surplus CO2 allowances. Davies, who took key legislation through the European Parliament in 2008, described his success at the time as "the most important achievement of his life."

CCS technology removes CO2 from the coal or gas used in power stations and industrial plants for permanent burial deep underground. It is regarded as one of the main hopes for reducing huge quantities of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

The plan now agreed is to have up to 12 large demonstration plants in operation by 2015. Up to three of these plants are likely to be built in Britain.

Let's get on with it

Welcoming the decision, Davies criticised delays already incurred and called for the programme to be accelerated. He said: "It took just 3 months for Prime Ministers to accept the principle of the funding mechanism I proposed, but it has taken 13 months to gain approval for the details.

"Europe says it wants to lead the world in developing 'green' technology but we will only do that if we speed up our decision-making."

The MEP claimed that Britain was ideally placed for CCS development, with huge coal reserves and CO2 storage sites beneath the North Sea. The Government has already announced that it intends to introduce a levy on electricity bills to pay for the UK's share of the cost of developing CCS plants.

From "Lib Dem Eurofile" No. 3, March 2010.

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