Malcolm Wicks, the Energy Minister, was accused of recklessness yesterday for supporting the construction of a coal-fired power plant.
The Environmental Audit Select Committee said that the Government was rushing into the planned £1.5billion E.ON plant at Kingsnorth, Kent, before it had successfully developed carbon-cleaning technology.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is intended to capture the carbon produced when fossil fuels are burnt in power plants, so that it can be safely stored rather than being released into the atmosphere.
Timothy Yeo, the committee chairman, expressed deep concerns at the Government's support for coal-fired power, which he described as the dirtiest form of energy. “There are alternatives available. We are rushing into this even before you know whether we have CCS. That's what to us seems extremely dangerous.”
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