Cameron calls for coal phase out

Cameron’s tweet, posted by the UK Mission to the United Nations, read: ’We’ve said no to new coal [without] carbon capture and storage and plan to phase out existing coal over next 10-15 years.’
While not stated explicitly in his speech at the climate summit, the UK team at the UN in New York said on the Twitter social media site afterwards that the UK government intends to phase out existing coal stations, with new coal-fired power stations to use carbon capture and storage technology.

This is the first time that a phasing out measure has been announced in the UK, though European Union rules on pollutants from coal-fired power stations state that older coal-fired plants will have to be fitted with clean technology sooner rather than later.

In contrast to the prime minister’s stance, UK energy companies such as EDF Energy have expressed that coal-fired power stations are critical to “bridging the energy gap between now and when the company can deliver new low-carbon generating capacity” and that switching away from coal too quickly could lead to higher carbon generation.