News Article - 24 May 2012
Category:
Environment

Using coal with a reduced
carbon emissions measurement is preferable to other non-renewable
energies like nuclear, according to Friends of the Earth.
Nick Rau, from the group's Energy and Climate Campaign, believes
that 45 per cent of the energy grid can come from renewable
technologies by 2020, but the rest will have to come from
"flexible, conventional power generation".
He believes that
accounting for carbon from coal with
carbon caps "could get the
emissions down significantly", adding that coal
was a better alternative to nuclear, because a large quantity of
constant nuclear base-load cannot be balanced against the renewable
component.
Coal can also be used with
carbon capture and storage (CCS) and combined
heat and power (CHP) techniques, because heat from the coal can be
captured too.
"Throw CCS and CHP in so that coal does become quite acceptable and
definitely preferable to the nuclear option," he concluded.
However, the government's plans for
accounting for carbon emissions seem to prefer the nuclear
option, including building up to ten new nuclear power stations by
2020.
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