EU carbon capture plan points to a green future for West Midlands' coal industry, says MEP (Oswestry Liberal Democrats)

Oswestry Liberal Democrats <info@oswestrylibdems.org.uk>

EU carbon capture plan points to a green future for West Midlands' coal industry, says MEP

October 5, 2009 12:27 PM
Originally published by Liz Lynne

Carbon Capture - if it works - will secure the future of coal in a carbon free energy system

LibDem Euro MP Liz Lynne has welcomed a plan by the European Commission to spend a billion pounds on seven full scale carbon capture and storage schemes for coal power stations around Europe.

The trial projects to trap carbon emissions at power stations in the UK and six other EU countries would involve funding up to £160m each from a £1 billion budget as part of the EU's economic recovery programme. Legislation allowing for the plan has been strongly supported by Liberal Democrat Euro MPs in the European Parliament.

Carbon capture and storage (or CCS) involves extracting CO2 from a coal or oil power station chimneys and pumping it deep underground for permanent storage in rocks which used to contain oil or natural gas.

Liz Lynne is LibDem MEP for the West Midlands region which includes Europe's largest and most efficient coal mine, Daw Mill in Warwickshire, which produces over 3 million tonnes of coal a year and employs 680 people.

She said: "This huge EU sponsored project for full scale trials is a vital step forward. The world needs to know if carbon capture technology really works and if coal can have a future in a carbon free economy.

"We need to take drastic and immediate steps to cut carbon emissions by every means. I am a strong supporter of wind, solar and tidal power, but it can't provide all the energy we need for many decades.

"I am not in favour of nuclear power, the risks of terrorism and pollution are too great. We have huge coal reserves in the UK and here in the West Midlands, and an efficient deep mining industry. If we can mine coal and use it in a way which does not cause global warming or pollution, then that could be a way forward."

The European Commission was due to announce support for seven demonstration CCS projects including one in Britain at a meeting of national experts (the FP7 Energy Programme Committee) in Brussels today. Member States will have two weeks to object before the proposals are submitted to the European Parliament. MEPs are likely to accept the plan without dissent.

Coal and gas power stations are responsible for 40% of all Europe 's CO2 emissions, and with the use of both increasing many experts believe that without CCS it will be impossible to curb global warming. However, although the technology has been proven in a number of pilot projects it has never been demonstrated on the scale necessary if hopes for it are to be realised.

ENDS