The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Coal power plants burnt out
Closure by 2025 welcomed – but concern over switch to gas
UK Energy Secretary Amber Rudd has announced all polluting coal- fired power stations will be closed by 2025 in a move hailed an “excellent and inspiring precedent”.
But campaigners have voiced concerns over the “retro” decision to transfer to gas, rather than switching to cleaner technology.
The step makes the UK the first major country to commit to ending use of the fossil fuel and comes ahead of crucial UN climate change talks in Paris later this month.
Under the plans, all coal power plants which do not have technology to capture their carbon emissions will be shut by 2025, with their use restricted by 2023.
Ms Rudd – heavily criticised for cutting government support for solar and onshore wind – also set out the Conservatives’ backing for a fleet of new nuclear reactors.
In addition, she said the Government would make subsidies available for offshore wind, if conditions on reducing costs of the technology are met.
Speaking at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Londonyesterday, she said: “Our determination to cut carbon emissions as cost effectively as possible is crystal clear.
“Our most important task is providing a compelling example to the rest of the world of how to cut carbon while controlling costs.”
Former US vice president and environmentalist Al Gore described the announcement as an “excellent and inspiring precedent”.
But Green MP Caroline Lucas compared the move to trying to “go dry by switching from vodka to super-strength cider” and NinaSkorupska, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, branded it “mere tinkering around the edges”.
Bruce Davis, co-founder of environmental investment platform Abundance, called it a “retro reset” and a “bad pitch for the old days of gas price boom and bust”. But Dan Lewis, senior energy adviser at the Institute of Directors, welcomed the effort to strike a “balance between clean, cheap and reliable” energy sources.
He also underlined the importance of shale in the “second dash for gas”.
UK Onshore Oil and Gas stressed the need to get on with appraising and developing the “gas below our feet”.
Ms Rudd picked up on this in her speech, saying
“UK the first major country to commit to ending use of the fossil fuel”
the world class expertise in the North Sea should be used as a base to build on “so that our shale potential can be exploited safely”.
As well as outlining the new direction of energy policy, theUKGovernment has published a separate strategy to maximise the economic recovery of offshore oil and gas.
The Government will publish a consultation in the spring on proposals to close coal by 2025 and restrict its use from 2023.