Economy First: Britain Puts Decarbonisation On Hold
Allegra Stratton, The Guardian, 16 August 2010
The coalition is watering down a commitment to tough new environmental emissions standards, raising the possibility of dirty coal-fired power stations such as Kingsnorth going ahead.
Green groups are aghast that a flagship policy called for in opposition by both Lib Dems and Tories, and which they last year tried to force on the Labour government, will now not be implemented in the coalition’s first energy bill to be published this year.
Their criticism of the government’s commitment to green issues follows news last week that nature reserves could be sold off as countryside protection measures also bear the brunt of budget cuts in the Department for Environment.
Introducing a so-called “environmental performance standard” (EPS) for power companies would have restricted greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas plants and encouraged companies wishing to build to use more efficient technology.
The introduction of an EPS was personally championed by David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg when in opposition; their opposition to Kingsnorth became something of a cause célèbre – and even features in the coalition agreement – but was opposed by energy companies and Tory backbenchers.
The chief executive at one coal-plant operating company warned that the UK’s renewable energy technology – which would be used to help new plants meet the target – was too undeveloped to make the EPS feasible.
Now government sources confirm they will not be bringing forward legislation in the autumn and will instead spend the summer working on “the larger picture”. They will open a consultation on the idea in the autumn with the results being presented to parliament as a white paper in the new year.
Green campaigners believe this is noncommittal for a policy both parts of the coalition said could be implemented immediately when in opposition.
They believe a delay in the introduction of the standard until next year – with a few years for the legislation to pass through the house and for it to be set up – raises the possibility of new coal-fire power stations slipping through the system.
Greenpeace energy campaigner, Joss Garman, said: “David Cameron made the introduction of new rules to stop the most polluting power stations one of his flagship green policies, and Nick Clegg helped ensure it was a key part of the coalition agreement.
“Both Lib Dem and Conservative MPs voted for the introduction of such a measure just a few months ago, and if they U-turn on this and fail to put this measure into their new energy law, how can they claim to be the greenest government ever?”
The energy company Peel Power has already come forward with a proposal in Scotland to build a largely unabated coal plant.
The government’s advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, said if the UK is to meet its climate targets it needs to decarbonise the whole power sector by 2030.
If the EPS is abandoned it would almost certainly reopen the debate about what the industry needs to change and encourage utilities to push forward with their original plans for a whole new fleet of dirty coal stations in the UK (the first to be built here for 30 years).
The consequences would be that the battle of Kingsnorth could be refought.
WUWT readers may recall the Dr. Jim Hansen went to Britain to defend vandals of this station. Story here. My reaction here.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Greenpeace is disappointed. That’s not a problem.
George E. Smith- “I do not eat organic foods, because it contains carbon. You’d be surprised how many organic farm vendors have ensured me that their produce is certified carbon free.”
Brilliant!
I have a bumper sticker on my 13-year-old Ford Explorer- “This vehicle is powered by Hydrogen-loaded carbon nanorods.” A few folks were surprised that the hydrogen economy had already arrived…
but but haven’t they left Brown’s carbon tax by stealth in place? All companies must declare their energy use and by association CO² output by the end of September 2010 and then prepare to pay tax on their consomption.
You don’t get re-elected if you let the lights go out.
With most of the UKs nuclear and coal capacity due to come to the end of its life in the next 10 years reality gets in the way.
“Jimbo says:
Due to the balmy heatwave recently the government and some crazed Warmists have forgotten how cold winter can be and the 40,000 excess deaths this past winter in the UK.” The link where the 40,000 excess deaths (and other statistics) comes from is the New Zealand Herald AND these are just predictions. I suspect that if the cold had really resulted in 40,000 more deaths than usual during the winter months that it would have made international news the way that that the thousands of French deaths resulting from a summer heat wave made the international news.
Cold is bad. Cold can kill, but I suspect that over-the-top statistics sound equally hysterical regardless of which side of the debate they’re on.
come on!!!
“The coalition is watering down a commitment to tough new environmental emissions standards, raising the possibility of dirty coal-fired power stations such as Kingsnorth going ahead.”
Why do you believe coal-fired power stations are “dirty”? Are they using poorly designed scrubbers, don’t they have ash management plans, are they poorly engineered? Or, does “dirty” = CO2?
Talking of Hansen and his activism:
http://tinyurl.com/mthz6t
If the left wing environmentalists are screaming, then the new coalition must be doing something right!
You may be correct though it is hard to find the last winters’ excess winter deaths in the UK.
Now click here [UK Office of National Statistics] and you will see that the excess winter deaths in England and Wales for the winter of 1999 / 2000 is over 45,000 people. Also in the winter of 2008/2009 you will see 35,000 excess winter deaths in England and Wales.
This last winter was the coldest for over 30 years so it doesn’t take much of the imagination to see why 40,000 is not unexpected. I did see the figure from other sources and I’ll post it here as soon as I find it. ;O)
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=574
George E. Smith says:
August 16, 2010 at 11:18 am
…Then we’ll see who actually can prosper without coal or petroleum and natural gas. I have of late told vendors at our local street organic food fairs on saturday mornings, that I do not eat organic foods, because it contains carbon. You’d be surprised how many organic farm vendors have ensured me that their produce is certified carbon free.
I absolutely believe it. I have seen advertisements for “organic water” also.
The latest “peak of green stupidity” hit for me was when I was shopping for a bathtub-faucet for my bathroom remodel. I found an ad for a “green” bathtub-filler faucet with built-restrictor to “save water” with 30% less water flow rate than an ordinary tub faucet.
Vince Causey says:
August 16, 2010 at 10:28 am
“……… Still, …….. – the Carbon Reduction Comittment is not being shelved, and the September deadline for 30,000 organisations to register to be skinned alive, is fast approaching. Analysts believe that only about 1,700 will meet the deadline with the rest being shocked to receive official reminder letters from Defra. ……..”
It’s not just reminders, but penalties of up to £45,000 for large businesses and fines of £500 for smaller businesses just for failing to register by 30 September, for this little known scheme, that most businesses haven’t yet even heard of.
One thing is certainly true: There is nothing which can directly replace fossil fuels. Leave aside the CO2 issue for the moment – it’s clearly becoming gradually more difficult and more expensive to obtain the coal, oil and gas that the world largely runs on, and the quality of those fuels is gradually diminishing. We know that we have to move to something else sooner or later. What do we do? Just leave the problem to the next generation? Hope some miraculous technological breakthrough will yield a cheap, dense, abundant and hitherto-unsuspected source of energy? Seems rather irresponsible and/or naively optimistic. So what is the solution? If ‘renewable’ (I like to call them inexhaustible) sources of energy like wind, wave and solar aren’t the answer, what is? How do we power a planet of >7 billion people who all want a first world lifestyle, if not with ever-diminishing fossil fuels?
Rhoda R
Here are reports of predicted excess winter deaths in the UK by UK newspapers.
—————————-
“Yvonne Doyle at the Department of Health has predicted up to 40,000 excess winter deaths this year thanks to the prolonged cold spell. This would be 3,000 more than last year which also had several shorter cold snaps. ”
Independent UK</a
————–
Britain has around 40,000 more deaths in winter than expected from death rates in other months of the year.
National Health Service (West Midlands)
See the followig [pdf] page figure 5 it looks like 100,000 excess winter deaths in 1950/1951. The trend has been down since then!!!
[Office of National Statistics]
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/hsq/HSQ20seasonal.pdf
@tenuc who said: “If it comes to a choice between nuclear and coal, give me fossil fuel generation every time. The risks to future generations from nuclear waste is still to great for it to be a larger part of the power mix.”
I am amazed at how many people think nuclear technology is still the first generation thermal variety. Read up on 4th generation nuclear plants aka fast neutron breeder reactors with integral fuel processing facilities. For example:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=smarter-use-of-nuclear-waste
Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, India, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam are all ahead of the USA. After 30 years of no activity, in February Obama said he supported building two new plants in Georgia with federal assistance. We must wait to see if he remains on course.
Its quite simple really:
Money talks, bullshit walks.
Welcome to the world of real politik.
Global warming was a rich mans disease. Guess what? we are not rich , but we are still diseased.
Even with this announcement, we will struggle to keep the lights on.
Memo to other Brits reading this site: Candles, Hurricane lamps and lamp oil, dried foods, canned food , needles, thread, 20litre jerries, sulpha drugs, alcohol, are still a good bet. Crossbows, longbows, wakisashi and series 3 landys are still optional extras*.
*for now….
We had the chance to get out of this situation. Ten years ago, a comprehensive Nuke Power build programme would have resolved UK power problems. But no. No one had the balls to take on the greens head to head. Instead, we will still get blackouts.
Here’s a thought: You are 70 years old, living on the 6th floor of a high rise, its January and the power failed eight days ago.
This is not a game.
Dorme Bien.
Mike Core.
What is wrong with using coal to generate power? The U.S. alone has several centuries’ worth of coal and oil reserves.
The following letter appeared in the Rockhampton (Queensland Australia) morning Bulletin on December 22, 2009:
And the UK politicians want to ‘decarbonise’??
Nuclear energy. Just look how far France is?
Renewable energy could still be used to supplement nuclear where it is feasable and cost effective and not simply adopted wholesale and scattered willy nilly. Some locations might be ideal for windfarms, some for solar and some for wind.
Finally, can you imagine the progress that would have been made if all the billions wasted on AGW was spent on nuclear fusion research we might be decades ahead by now.
That’s MHO.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8485669.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/experiment_qa.shtml
Hearing of this has really made my day. Perhpas it is wishful thinking, but it seems as if the coalition government is actually listening to industry. Or perhaps not – maybe it is just the budget deficit that is providing clearer focus. Now we just need some movement on the Carbon Reduction Comittment. I really fear for small businesses.
I am reminded of the David Rockefeller quote:
.
“This present window of opportunity, during which a truly peaceful and interdependent world order might be built, will not be open for too long – We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” Sept. 14, 1994 David Rockefeller while speaking at the UN Business Council
Looks like the “window of opportunity” is starting to shut. Between the Climategate whistle blower, the leaked “danish text” and China, the Copenhagen Accord was killed. That fiasco was compounded by the bankrupting of Iceland, Greece and near bankrupting of several other countries including the greenie poster child – Spain. Worse was the failure of Obama’s economic policies despite the doubling of the US money supply. According to economic theory the USA economy should have been going great guns by now, but the money evaporated and never made it into the economy.
Looks like the politicians are starting to worry about their own skins with the economic money spigot shut off and angry laid off workers pointing fingers at their idiotic policies.
Smokey says:
August 16, 2010 at 1:38 pm
“What is wrong with using coal to generate power? The U.S. alone has several centuries’ worth of coal and oil reserves.”
===========
I’ve followed many of your comments in prior posts and agree with this one to a point.
The USA Utility Industry spends very little on R&D. “Little” in relation to their industry as a whole.
The utilities who spend the most on R&D with grants from the DOE are focused on their immediate Brown-out issue.
The grid is old, the wiring within most homes is flawed, and the entire game at a household level is antiquated start to finish from the water heater that “needs” to be ON all day to the TV thst draws power “because” the resident has never been trained to “Turn It Off”.
So, “The AL” suggests we need “Smart Meters” to cover the stupidity. Swell solution if you never intended to address the “True Cause”.
It’s actually becoming very amazing Smokey, the general public are awakened to the issues. Its only a question of time before they finally lose the “Alarm” and start thinking.
Best,
John from CA
Phillip Bratby says:
August 16, 2010 at 9:24 am
Most coal-fired power stations in the UK are now clean and non-polluting. They have retrofitted FGD (flue gas desulphurisation)
This is utterly funny as neutralization of sulphur dioxide gas (SO2) is done in gas washing towers with a milk of lime suspension; this milk of lime, as everybody knows, is made with Calcium Oxide (CaO), which, in turn, it is obtained by BURNING LIME STONE (CaCO3-calcium carbonate) and thus producing CO2. ……In the mean time, while all these wise englishmen rest assure that everything goes GREEN, an unnamable volcano erupts is near Iceland emitting thousand of tons of SO2….Just roses, roses!
Everything happy while their country sinks in the abyss of blissful green poverty.
Gail Combs says:
August 16, 2010 at 2:33 pm
And if you think about the fallacy of any goverment of “creating jobs”.. with tax money!!, which is like saying ” I will get you a job”…..so “give me all your savings to help you”, it is a circular reasoning !!
Of course decarbonisation. When organizations are starting to get sued, the heads running ’em aren’t far behind getting sued from both sides.
And suddenly it doesn’t look to good being on the side that wanted all our money without being honest from the get go.
“because the lunatics who ran our national asylum from 1997 to 2010 did not have the intelligence or moral courage to order a single power station of any kind, nuclear or fossil”
Because the previous lunatics SOLD the existing ones to “private” industry.
Since the power generation is now owned and operated by private companies it would be hard to tell the taxpayers that they now have to pay the private companies to build more stations so that they can then charge them more to buy the electricity that THEIR OWN money paid for….twice.
And the coalition government is NOT going to build more nuclear….it MAY allow “private” companies to pay for them to be built. IF they can get them through the planning routine…which (at present) can take over TEN YEARS to get through because the green ativists are SO VERY GOOD at delaying things….
Did I bump into you looking for the in-organic food aisle?