Coal-fired Power Stations under Fire

Coal-fired power stations are the reason the UK government is facing the heat these days. The coal fired power stations will have to be enabled with the facility to hold down carbon pollution according to a report released by a panel of MPs. Those that do not meet the criteria, says the enviromental audit committee, must pull down their shutters for good. A time-period must be determined within which coal-fired power stations could be brought upto date with the necessary features. This will also help UK to fulfill its target for limiting carbon emissions.

The coal-fired power station being planned at Kingsnorth, Kent is the centre of the controversy. Gordon Brown and his government have to choose between the German company E.O.N. and its promise to consider implementing CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) on the one hand. On the other are ardent environmentalist forces such as Greenpeace that advocate CCS as the prelude for permission to operate a coal-fired power station.

The latest report released by British MPs suggests that CCS technology is the need of the hour in order to effectively tackle global warming. At present, UK does not possess a developed CCS project but it is likely to be showcased by 2014.

CCS promises many benefits apart from limiting carbon emissions and could positively impact developing nations like India. The ground reality is that the technology is not immediately available until year 2014. However, environmentalists are urging the government to look as far ahead as 2020 while setting down parameters for operating coal-fired power stations.