The Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, has announced that any new generation of coal-fired power stations in the UK will have their carbon emissions partially captured by cutting-edge technology.
Mr Miliband said that their carbon dioxide waste gas would be liquefied and stored permanently deep underground, instead of being allowed to escape into the atmosphere. He claimed that the Government's plan, "Puts us in a world leadership position on carbon capture and storage (CCS). There is no alternative to CCS if we are serious about fighting climate change and retaining a diverse mix of energy sources for our economy."
However, some important questions remain over the technology, which is still in its infancy and unproven.
Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced in last month's Budget that funding for "up to four" CCS demonstration plants would be made available. The enormous cost, likely to be well over £1bn each, will be met by a levy on electricity prices, which by 2020 will add about 2% to the average household electricity bill.
John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, welcomed the announcement saying, "At last Ed Miliband is demonstrating welcome signs of climate leadership in the face of resistance from Whitehall officials and cabinet colleagues. He is the first minister in 12 years to throw down the gauntlet to the energy companies and demand they start taking climate change seriously."
However, the Green Party believe CCS to be a dangerous diversion from cleaner, renewable technologies, such as wind power, which they say easily trumps CCS on job-creation as well as on environmental protection. Furthermore, Greenpeace point out that if CCS does go wrong, the UK will be left with a batch of coal-fired power plants that ruin all its climate targets.
