Oil

improving energy efficiency and promoting the uptake of existing

carbon technologies like PV, fuel cells and carbon geological stora

Blair, A. (2004) Speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair on the 10th

anniversary of the Prince of Wales' Business and Environment

Programme, London, 14 September 2004. UKCCSC Mission state

To promote an understanding of how options for decoupling fossil

use from carbon emissions through the use of carbon capture and

storage could be used to assist the UK in achieving an energy syste

which is environmentally sustainable, socially acceptable and mee

energy needs securely and affordably. What are the Objectives of

UKCCSC? Overall objectives: To assist in the national aim of redu

UK CO2 emissions by 60%, by decoupling economic growth from

energy use and pollution. To assist in maintaining the reliability an

cost of UK energy, such that every home can be adequately and

affordably heated. To rapidly expand the UK research capacity in

carbon capture and storage (CCS), making a large contribution to

national energy targets. To assist in enabling the continued use of t

UK's coal reserves, both through conventional mining and undergr

coal gasification. Investigation of fossil fuel gasification as a bridg

the hydrogen economy. To assist in bridging the gap between the

present day fossil fuel economy and the future hydrogen economy.

Overall assessment of lifecycle costs and emissions of fossil fuel s

options. CCS objectives: Assessment of the impact of future energ

supply/demand scenarios on the overall costs and emissions of non

CCS and CCS fossil generation. To explore the role of CCS in the

update of the UK's energy infrastructure. Investigation of CCS

synergies with other low-emission energy sources. To assist in

extending the life of the UK North Sea oil industry by 1 or 2 decad

realising the potential of CCS. Investigation of the potential impac

CO2 leakage during capture and storage, and compare these to the

environmental impacts of non-intervention. Establish a Geographic

Information System (GIS) based decision support tool.

Slide 10: Nuclear British Energy A FTSE 100 company, British En

Group plc is the UK’s largest producer of electricity and the lowes

carbon emitter of the major UK electricity generators. With a dedic

workforce of about 6,000 skilled professionals, we produce around

onesixth of the nation's electricity. We own and operate eight nucle

power stations. In addition, we own and run a coal-fired power sta

Our nuclear stations have a combined capacity of almost 10,000

megawatts, whilst our coal-fired plant adds a further 1,960 megaw

of output. We operate two types of nuclear reactor: the advanced g

cooled reactor (AGR); and a pressurised water reactor (PWR). Siz

B is the only PWR nuclear power station in our portfolio. The nucl

power industry plays a crucial role in tackling climate change by

generating near-zero carbon electricity. The electricity sector's

contribution Fossil fuel power stations are the single largest source

CO2 emissions both globally and in the UK. Coal and oil fired stat

emit the most, with gas generation emitting around half as much.

Nuclear and renewables are near-zero carbon technologies. British

Energy’s nuclear stations play an important role in minimising CO

emissions, since without them the electricity would have to be

generated by fossil fuel stations. In 2006/07 our nuclear stations

prevented the emission of about 33.7 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO

the equivalent to removing around half of the UK’s cars. Since the

were commissioned our stations have avoided a total of 800MtCO

The focus of UK government efforts to reduce emissions from

electricity generation is through efficiency improvements, and by

encouraging greater use of renewable generation. To encourage en

efficiency the Government has established the Climate Change Lev

(CCL), which is a tax on the business use of energy. However, the

does not distinguish between electricity generated by high carbon

intensity plants (such as coal generation) and carbon-free plants (su

nuclear) so it’s not very well suited to tackling climate change. To

encourage renewables the UK Government established the Renewa

Obligation to encourage suppliers to buy renewable energy

Slide 11: Government Agency Environment Agency "We are the

leading public body for protecting and improving the environment

England and Wales. It's our job to make sure that air, land and wat

looked after by everyone in today's society, so that tomorrow's

generations inherit a cleaner, healthier world." Sir John Harman,

Chairman. The current Kyoto targets are very small compared to th

cuts in emissions that will eventually be needed. Some European

countries have set themselves informal targets for 60-per-cent emi

reductions by mid-century, which is a better measure of what is ne

But even if all the Kyoto nations did likewise, they are only respon

for a minority of today’s emissions. So more would still be needed

other nations. Eventually, if the climate regime develops as many h

every country and every major energy and manufacturing company

need a licence to emit greenhouse gases. If we are to stop dangerou

climate change, the number of licences available will need to be ve

limited. So the question of how they should be shared out becomes

critical. It is political dynamite. In particular, the suggestion sets th

industrialised and developing worlds at loggerheads. This is partly

because the industrialised countries of Europe and North America

already used up something like half of the atmospheric "space"

available for emissions. And partly because developing nations are

coming under pressure to reduce their emissions before they have h

chance to industrialise. Big developing nations like China and Indi

may rank high in the emissions league table. But measured per hea

population, their emissions remain low. While the US and Australi

emit around 5 tonnes a year for every citizen, and European countr

average under 3 tonnes, China is still below 1 tonne and India belo

half a tonne. Developing countries feel they are being asked to fore

economic development to help clean up a mess they did not create

the other hand, they increasingly see that climate change threatens

prospects for economic development. The only solution may be to

institute a rationing system for pollution entitlements, based on a s

view of fairness. That might ultimately mean a ration based on nat

population.

Q]

g]

tact Us]

Time on Slide Ti me on Plick

Slides per Visit Slide Views Views by Location