Tories would fund three carbon capture schemes

The Conservative Party would fund at least three carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects, if elected to power, George Osborne said today

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The CCS projects would, the shadow chancellor said: “establish development of this new and exciting technology but would also encourage private sector investment in coal fired power stations helping to address Britain’s future energy needs.

"Britain could and should be exporting carbon capture technology across the world … helping to cut global carbon emissions. Our policy would make that possible.”

In the accompanying green paper, the Tories slammed the government for funding only one, 300MW demonstration plant.

“Picking one winner for a small-scale demonstration project reveals a profound lack of ambition and fails to create an adequate framework for the transition to low carbon generation. Clearly, a more effective framework for developing our CCS potential is required.”

The Tories said government should fund the projects from the proceeds of the EU’s emissions trading scheme and that it would unleash £3bn of private sector investment.

The shadow chancellor said the investment would be part of a £30bn “green technology recovery plan” which would boost the economy rather than racking up more national debt by incentivising individuals and companies to build the future.”

John Alker, head of advocacy at the UK Green Building Council said:

“With 27 percent of UK emissions coming from our housing stock, the Tories have recognised that tackling climate change starts at home. The plan to ‘entitle’ householders to a package of energy efficiency measures is a progressive and far-sighted policy."

Other measures in the green paper, some of which have already been announced, include: providing homeowners with a £6,500 “entitlement” to invest in home energy efficiency; providing government guarantees for bank loans to environmental technology companies; bringing forward the introduction of feed-in tariffs; beginning work on a new high speed rail network; and building an offshore DC electricity network to allow offshore renewables to access the grid.