Emily Beament There were renewed calls last night to stop the building of new coal-fired power stations in the UK as the government's Climate Change Committee called for large emissions cuts by 2020.
Emily Beament There were renewed calls last night to stop the building of new coal-fired power stations in the UK as the government's Climate Change Committee called for large emissions cuts by 2020.
The Committee on Climate Change, chaired by Adair Turner, said the UK must cut its greenhouse gas output by at least 34% on 1990 levels by 2020 and by even more if an international deal on reducing greenhouse gases is agreed.
If the current UN negotiations lead to a new deal on climate change in Denmark next December, the UK's greenhouse gases should be cut by 42% by the end of the next decade, the committee recommended.
The power sector could see emissions reduced by two-fifths by 2020 and be virtually carbon-free by 2030, a report from the committee said.
The significant reductions across the economy can be achieved at a cost of less than 1% of GDP in 2020 - but could lead to more people facing fuel poverty as energy bills were pushed up by measures to cut carbon.
The report on moving to a low-carbon economy did not rule out new conventional coal-fired power stations in the next decade, but it recommended that fossil-fuelled power plants which do not have technology to trap and permanently store carbon emissions should not be allowed to generate electricity beyond the early 2020s.
New coal-fired power stations should only be built with the "clear expectation" they should be retrofitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) by the early 2020s, Lord Turner said.
The LibDems warned the report had left the door open to new "dirty" coal power stations.
Environmental groups, however, said it was clear that planned coal plants, such as the one at Kingsnorth in Kent, could not go ahead if the government followed the committee's recommendations.
Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said if ministers followed the committee's advice, "Kingsnorth is dead in the water", while the RSPB said the report sounded the "death knell" for coal-fired power stations without carbon capture and storage technology.
Friends of the Earth's executive director Andy Atkins called on the government to block plans for new coal-fired power stations and airport expansion. He also welcomed Lord Turner's backing for investment in green energy and improving energy efficiency, which he said would cut emissions and provide jobs.
The report said emissions cuts could come from cleaner power generation from sources such as wind, which could make up 30% of the UK's electricity by 2020, and measures including energy-efficiency improvements in homes and offices and developing more efficient, electric and hydrogen-powered cars.
The report said nuclear power could play a role in low-carbon electricity generation. Lord Turner acknowledged that the higher electricity and gas prices created by investment in renewables could push a further 1.7 million households into fuel poverty, but said 400,000 could be lifted out by energy-efficiency measures in their homes.
Shadow energy and climate change secretary Greg Clark said he was deeply concerned by the assessment that so many households could be pushed into fuel poverty.
The report was published as negotiators began the latest round of international climate change talks in Poznan, Poland with the aim of achieving a new global treaty next year in Copenhagen.
