We’ve said no to new coal w/o Carbon Capture & Storage and plan to phase out existing coal over next 10-15 years.
PM Cameron #Climate2014
Twitter and tweeting brings with itself a present danger of the misguided, off-guard, ill-considered missive in 140 characters that soon provides cause for regret.
Whilst David Cameron probably didn’t suffer the blood-draining realisation of an errant tweet recently, some may consider his message as unfortunate.
Cameron’s tweet, posted by the UK Mission to the United Nations, didn’t reflect the content of the speech he delivered to the UN climate summit in New York however his aides confirmed this was merely cut from his speech for timing reasons and that the tweet was to ensure the ‘policy’ was deemed as communicated.
The endorsement of the phase out of existing coal-fired power plants in the UK over the next 10 or 15 years, and the equipping of new coal-fired stations with carbon capture and storage technology echoed the requirements under the European Union rules on pollutants from coal-fired power stations, known as the large combustion plant directive (LCPD),
This was however the first time that the coalition government had announced the explicit intention to phase out coal-fired power stations.
Following the tweet however, No. 10 said that the policy was not new, as all it will mean is that ageing coal plants will need to be retro fitted with appropriate cleaning technology, meaning their removal from service over the next decade and a half a period over which many were also expected to come to the end of their useful lives.
According to the Association of Coal Importers, the UK used about 60m tonnes of coal last year, with 49m tonnes of that amount imported.
As a result the tradition of deep-level coal mining in the UK is almost extinct with just three active mines remaining, two of which, Kellingley and Thoresby, are expected to be shut by the end of 2015.
The remaining mine, Hatfield in South Yorkshire, has recently secured a £4m loan from the NUM to help safeguard its existence allowing it to develop new economic coalfaces to continue production over the next 18 months.
John Grogan, chairman of the Hatfield Colliery Partnership said:
“Beyond that we need contracts at premium prices . . . we would need to do that within months”
Hatfield’s targets for those premium contracts are Drax, EDF Energy, E.ON and SSE, with Grogan saying:
“If each [Drax, EDF Energy, E.ON and SSE] took a quarter of our annual million tonnes a year of output they would probably be paying a maximum premium of about £2m each compared with current world market prices. For that they would be getting a valuable hedge against future price hikes in world prices or political instability in the main countries we import coal from, which are Russia and Colombia”
Whether Drax, EDF Energy, E.ON and SSE will have suitable coal generation facilities to process that output will depend largely on the EU’s LCPD and Cameron’s adherence to it.
As we have said many times before the only way to a sustainable and secure energy future for the UK is a genuine mix of fuel sources of which coal, preferably of the clean variety, is a key component. The fuel mix however is only as strong as the ability to fulfill its contribution through indigenous sources. To that end we need more UK coalmines, wind farms, nuclear, solar, in fact more of everything to provide the fuel mix the country needs.
It may not fit into 140 characters but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be our clear and stated policy.