Canada and Germany are moving to boost the take up of carbon capture and storage (CCS) on new coal fired power plants, a week after Britain announced new laws to force the issue.
Canada’s environment minister Jim Prentice has foreshadowed new regulations this year that will prevent old coal-fired power plants from being replaced with new ones, unless they incorporate CCS technology. Surviving dirty coal plants would also be subjected to emissions caps, he said.
Ottawa has set a target of having a 90-per-cent emission-free electricity sector by 2025.
“The approach that we've been working towards involves a cap-and-trade system relating to thermal coal, and the requirement of phasing out those facilities as they reach the end of their useful, fully-amortized life,” Prentice said in an interview with the Globe and Mail newspaper.
The German government has not gone as far, but has approved draft laws to ensure new coal-fired power stations allow for CCS technology when it becomes available. This falls short of Britain’s move to demand CCS on new plants but should allow new investment in coal power to go ahead with a commitment to lower emissions.
Coal appears to have an assured future in Germany which must find new sources of power as nuclear plants are phased out and the country seeks to reduce reliance on unreliable gas supplies from Russia.
Globe and Mail, Reuters 29/4/09
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