'The Roll to Coal' Threatens CO2 Targets

'The Roll to Coal' Threatens CO2 Targets

Mar 28 - Independent, The; London (UK)

Soaring greenhouse gas emissions from power stations are seriously threatening Britain's new climate-change targets, launched in a blaze of publicity only two weeks ago, according to a new report.

Emissions of carbon dioxide from the power sector are shooting up because of an increasing switch from burning high-priced gas to cheaper, but more carbon-intensive, coal, says the report, commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

They have rocketed by nearly 30 per cent since 1999, with a rise of 6 per cent in 2006 alone - and this raises "serious concerns", the report says, about whether the Government can meet its proposed target under the recently launched Climate Change Bill to cut emissions by 26 per cent to 32 per cent by 2020.

The findings, in the report UK Power Sector Emissions - targets or reality? by consultants IPA Energy + Water, show that in 2006, emissions from power stations shot up to 178 million tonnes of CO2 - an increase of 6 per cent in 2005 - after a sector-wide return to coal use which was driven by high gas prices and increasing electricity demand.

The power sector is the biggest source of Britain's greenhouse gases, accounting for about a third of the total. Its emissions have reached the highest level since 1992, cancelling out all of the gains from the "dash for gas" in the 1990s, when power companies went the other way.

"This is a disgrace for Britain, and shows that for the past decade the Gov-ernment has talked a good game on climate change while failing dismally to tackle emissions from this highly polluting sector," said Keith Allott, the head of climate change at WWF-UK.

"The 'dash for gas' in the 1990s helped drive down carbon emissions almost by accident - but the power sector is now on a 'roll to coal' with profound environmental implications. If the Government is serious about climate change, the power sector has to be brought to heel - either through incentives or legislation - so that coal burn is dramatically reduced."

Paul King, the director of campaigns at WWF-UK, said: "The UK is seen as taking a lead on climate change internationally, but these findings show that we urgently need to get to grips with our own emissions to give us credibility on the world stage."

The report highlights the fact that policies to put the sector on to a low-carbon path are proving woefully inadequate, largely because they are not implemented strongly enough. The first phase of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme has failed to stop the return to coal - and the price of carbon has crashed because European governments issued far too many pollution permits to their industries.

In Britain, electricity consumption continues to rise, despite government promises of a "step change" in energ y efficiency - and although re-newables are making welcome progress, they are having to run fast to keep up with rising demand.

The Department of Trade and Industry forecasts that, on current policies, emissions from the power sector will stay broadly unchanged to 2020.

Indeed, the WWF report confirms that the Government has actually encouraged high levels of coal burn in future by encouraging, and essentially subsidising, coal stations to fit sulphur scrubbers, so prolonging their operating life.