23rd Apr 2008
E.oN ask for a delay
E.on want John Hutton to delay his decision on the planning application for Kingsnorth power station.
They want to run the first industrial scale test of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in Britain and need time to evaluate the technology available.
Carbon dioxide gas is highly dangerous, as was shown, in 1987, by the deaths of over 1800 people in Cameroon when lake Nyos belched the gas from it's depths.
Simon Marchant of the Medway Greens said;
"Could it be that E.on have been swayed by the environmentalists, coal is an out of date, carbon intensive, nonsensical way to proceed into the future when reducing demand and investing, and installing, more renewables is the obvious way to lead the world in reducing carbon emissions and attempt to actually do something about Climate Change.
Unfortunately No!
E.on are after a delay so that they can pick up several million pounds of tax payers money as a subsidy to test the equipment. There are a few small CCS systems in the world, but none on this scale.
Even experts think a full solution of CCS is decades away.
It requires vast amounts of power to run these systems, reducing the output of the station. The cost of the electricity produced from the plant could be double what it would be otherwise.
So we are to subsidise the production of more expensive power and then, as electricity prices continue to increase, pay more to buy it too. What are the risks for the people, and animals, of Medway if a pipeline were to fracture and release the gas?
Where would the gas be stored?
While we welcome the delay, we feel it is for the wrong reasons. Too many problems remain unsolved, too much energy would be wasted, too much uncertainty remains about long term storage."
Simon continued;
"If Portugal can aim for 60% of their electricity from renewables by 2020 then we should aim higher if this country wants to claim it is leading the world. Doing so would set an example to the developing countries and the USA that it can be done. There are jobs and money to be made from these new technologies but this government is holding them back."
