ANYONE who considers that coal is an icon of Britain's industrial past should think again. Coal is firmly back on the energy agenda.
This country needs to embrace technologies that make coal clean. These include carbon capture and storage (CCS) or possibly the underground gasification of coal which uses coal from depths where other technologies can't operate. Professor Paul Younger at Newcastle University is leading research in this area. All this can assist British coalmining to help plug the critical energy gap.
The Stern Review, which discussed the effects of climate change and global warming on the world economy, indicated that CCS could account for as much as 28 per cent of carbon reduction by 2050.
Coal can boost the security of supply and make a significant contribution to the generation of electricity. Coal-fired power generation is responsive to fluctuating demand and adds the all-important diversity that is so essential in our energy mix.
Globally, there are about five trillion tonnes of coal available and this country has the most extensive coal reserves in Europe. However, without Government action on critical economic, regulatory and training and skills-capacity issues, we will not make progress and our energy policy could fail.
If we move now to develop clean coal, we could become a world leader in a valuable new technology and increase British green-collar jobs.
For coal to be used again responsibly, we need the technology on stream to render it carbon neutral. However, without an explicit commitment from the Government and the associated appropriate investment, this country will lag behind. If Britain and Europe make slow progress on CCS, China, India and others will continue to pursue unabated coal consumption.
Whether we like it or not, coal is in vast demand. The responsible thing to do is utilise the technology that makes this consumption sustainable.
We should acknowledge that the Government has taken steps to examine the future of the coal industry and to pioneer CCS. For example, the 2006 Energy Review instituted a Coal Forum whose role includes "stimulating investment in clean coal technologies". The forum meets three times a year, but does not seem to have produced a consensus. Can we afford, then, not to review these arrangements? There are technical, commercial and financial challenges. Yet more leadership from Government is needed in preparing the ground for CCS and a bolder approach to demonstration projects would be welcome.
Although there are different estimates of the anticipated level of new coal plant Britain would require, little will happen without establishing the necessary fiscal and regulatory levers. This needs Government action to speed things up. The market alone will not deliver. We should aim to buttress the clean delivery of domestic coalfired powered generation and then market our technology to the burgeoning Chinese and Indian markets.
The dividends of clean-coal technology can assist coalmining communities and bolster British manufacturing. As the TUC Clean Coal Task Force reported in March, we need to review the capacity of our skills base to ensure we can catch the coal wave.
People need greater assurance that coal power is genuinely clean and would be of minimum harm to the environment. In January, Eon UK's plans to proceed with a coalpowered generation plant at Kingsnorth re-opened public debate. Green groups took a narrow view on domestic carbon emissions, rather than arguing for higher standards and cleaner production.
However, without a clear signal on clean coal and CCS, the environmental movement will continue to raise legitimate questions about coal generation. We have to take the people with us and ensure they have confidence in our energy future. A robust voice to argue the case for clean coal is required. An article published recently by the left-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research queried the rush towards coal-fired electricity generation. Tory leader David Cameron has criticised the Government for lacking leadership in pioneering the all-important CCS demonstration projects. This begs the question: who is making the labour movement case for clean coal?
The environmental lobby is ideologically bound into a desirable but hopelessly utopian desire for renewable energy to solve all our ills. Before we can reach the renewable future, we must develop indigenous coal.
Tribune readers will need little reminding of the Tory legacy on energy. The attacks on the mining industry and mining communities were socially divisive and massively shortsighted. Our current energy needs and the scale of the challenge underlines how wasteful the decisions of the 1980s and 1990s were. The present Labour Government should now articulate the progressive, sustainable and economic case for coal in making Britain's energy policy credible. The economic benefits of developing the new technology required for clean production, along with its export potential, would boost jobs and the social and economic well-being of our country.
All energy sources need to play a role in driving our economy and reducing our contribution to climate change. It's not an either-or in the modern economy. And with increasing energy security problems, clean coal must be part of the mix.
This article was originally published in The Tribune, with whose kind permission it is reproduced here.
| Promoted by Paul Foy on behalf of Dave Anderson, both of St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Shibdon Road, Blaydon, NE21 5PT |