Energy supplier suffers setback with loss of CCS funding - 05/10/2009
People keen to switch energy resources may be disappointed to hear that major energy firm Scottish Power has missed out on funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) research.
The company's Longannet power plant in Scotland was a candidate to receive a share of £1 billion from the European Commission to help develop CCS technology, which is intended to reduce harmful emissions produced by burning coal.
Officials are hopeful the station will instead receive funding from the UK government through a CCS competition set up by the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
Richard Dixon, director of the World Wildlife Fund, which has identified Longannet as the best place for CCS funding in the UK, said: "We sincerely hope it will get some form of support to properly test this technology soon, whether it is from Europe or as a winner of the UK government's own CCS competition."
He added that Scotland is in a good position to become a world leader in the development of CCS technology.
More coal power stations may be needed for the next few years until new nuclear reactors become operational in the UK.
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