An organization representing the UK coal industry is lobbying government to ensure that coal generation has a central role to play in the forthcoming energy review.
The review, to be published later this summer, is likely to form the cornerstone of the UK’s energy policy going forward, and the industry-led Clean Coal Task Group is pressing the fuel’s claim as a part of the solution to the country’s looming energy gap, according to Reuters.
Clean coal must be integral to the energy review, Reuters cited the group as saying. Clean coal is the only short-term solution to the urgent environmental, economic and supply challenges the UK is facing. What we need now is clean coal at the heart of a diverse energy policy.
Clean coal systems essentially improve the efficiency of coal plants and use carbon capture technology to bury the CO2 emitted from them, thereby lessening the environmental impact of a fuel once considered the bete noire of a power generation sector adjusting to more stringent emissions targets.
But soaring wholesale gas prices over the past few years has forced a rethink, with several prominent UK generators, including E.ON, RWE and Scottish and Southern Energy, admitting that they are looking at investing in clean coal plants.