Commenting, EEF Energy Adviser, Roger Salomone, said:
“Clean coal technology is vital to maintaining security of supply and reducing carbon emissions both in the UK and across the globe. However, it is only by being ambitious that we will accelerate its development and ensure the UK is a major beneficiary of its commercialisation in the near future.
“Although today’s announcement has been a long time coming, government should be congratulated for raising its game by committing to fund more demonstration projects and setting out a clear framework that will allow coal-fired generation to make a long-term contribution to UK energy and environmental objectives.”
“However, CCS does not just hold out the prospect of providing the UK with secure low-carbon energy supplies in the decades ahead, it has the potential to evolve into a major industry, generating wealth, exports and employment. It is essential that Government builds on today’s announcement by developing a clear strategy to exploit the industrial opportunities that CCS will provide.”
EEF also noted that support CCS must not focus exclusively on power generation. One of the additional demonstration projects should test its potential in a major industrial application. Many energy intensive industries vital to the UK manufacturing base, such as steel, have already made significant contributions to the national effort to reduce carbon emissions by raising their energy efficiency but might be able to contribute further still by deploying CCS.
ENDS