By Martin Banks - 10th March 2009
Despite the new EU climate and energy package, new coal power plants seem to be all the rage
Anders Wijkman
MEPs have been urged to back calls for tough emission caps for fossil-driven power plants.
The move comes ahead of a parliamentary vote in Strasbourg on Tuesday on the industrial emissions directive (IPPC) which aims to address the shortcomings of current legislation on industrial emissions.
Swedish centre-right MEP Anders Wijkman says the draft IPCC legislation does not go far enough and that without "more direct action" CO2 emissions will increase for "many decades to come."
He claims that emissions from coal power plants currently being planned will in the future represent close to10 per cent of all EU emissions.
A group of 40 MEPs led by Wijkman and Dutch Socialist MEP Dorette Corbey have now put forward an amendment proposing emission caps for coal-power plants.
Wijkman said, "Despite the new EU climate and energy package, new coal power plants seem to be all the rage.
"The expansion of fossil power is a threat to EU climate goals, locking us into polluting technologies 40-50 years into the future. Emission caps for fossil power stations are, therefore, a must.
"The EU emissions trading scheme is not enough to stop new coal-fired power plants from being built. Free allowances for the power sector in some member states and a pass-through of indirect costs of higher energy prices to the industrial sectors mean that coal will continue to have an edge over renewables.
"This means that without additional action, CO2 emissions will increase for many decades to come. Emissions trading must therefore be supplemented by more direct action to reduce CO2 emissions."
Wijkman argues that a CO2 emission limit value of 350 grammes CO2/kWh for all new large power plants, to be met by 2020, should be included in the IPCC.
This would mean that new coal-fired power plants can only be built if they are equipped with capture and storage technology (CCS).
"New CO2 performance standards on the largest fossil power stations would steer investments towards green technologies and phase out dirty coal," said Wijkman.
Corbey said, ""We want to make a political statement. The gap between Europe's climate policy and the reality of climate change is widening. The ETS alone will not be enough to reduce power sector emissions at the scale and pace required."
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