In a recent move, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Adair Turner, demanded that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) competition should also cover gas and coal projects. The Chairman had reportedly written a letter regarding these recommendations to the Energy Secretary.

Coalition Minister, Chris Huhne, has also been asked by Lord Turner to expand the recommended Emissions Performance Standard by 2020, in order to cover new gas plants.

Lord Turner had written that if the UK wants to achieve the target of cutting down 80% emissions by the year 2050 then the power division needs to be extensively decarbonized by the year 2030. He further wrote that in order to do this, the country needs to make a logical progress towards moving out of conventional fossil fuels.

An Employee at Energy Analysts Inenco, Ian Parrett, revealed that the recommendations given by Lord Turner will require a large amount of funding and there is a need for the Government to make sure that coal fired plants are working adequately, before moving towards the gas plants.

He added that currently there are apprehensions about power security and expenditure and therefore, for the time being, the Government has to depend on gas-fired generation.