mr president the potential for carbon capture and storage technology to achieve vast reductions and abatement in co emissions into the atmosphere is something we simply must grasp
i have to say that the idea of storing co underground forever is not my ideal option
i would like us to move straight to a different age one where our power comes from renewable clean and green forms of energy
but we cannot ignore the reality of coal
china is getting eighty of its electricity from coal
it is soaring ahead with renewable energy programmes and yet it is also expanding its coal-fired power stations week in week out
in my own country there is a big argument about building one new coal-fired power station at kingsnorth
the co emissions from that one power station will be the equivalent of those saved by every single wind-farm we currently have in the country
people will say why bother with all these renewables why bother with all these other things if you are still building coal-fired power stations in this way
we have to develop ccs
the international energy agency says that by twenty fifty it could be responsible for abating up to fifty of the emissions that would otherwise take place on a business-as-usual scenario
now our number one concern in dealing with this legislation has been to deal with the issue of safety
some of those concerns may be easy to exaggerate
after all co is natural we breathe it in we breathe it out
we pump an explosive gas like methane into our own homes where we set light to it
so by comparison co needs to be put into perspective
but we have tried to address the issue of leakage in this report making clear that it is absolutely unacceptable if there was a risk to human health
we have tried to improve the regulation introducing clarifications to avoid contradictions and to speed up the application process while emphasising that member states are ultimately in charge of their own destiny
they decide whether or not co will be stored on their territory
the commission's initial proposals were good
i hope that council commission and parliament have collectively improved upon them
but there is not much point in storing co or making provisions for the storage of co if we are not capturing it in the first place
so we took on the challenge over the past few months of introducing a financial mechanism to drive forward construction of the demonstration projects promised by heads of government last year
i have to say that at times it has felt like an uphill struggle
people were dubious about the proposal to use allowances from the new entrant reserve of the emissions trading scheme
but we got there in the end with the council deciding last week to allocate three hundred million allowances
how much that will raise depends on the carbon price
but i am told it could be anything from eur six billion to eur nine billion of support for capital investment
that is a major step forward one of the real achievements of these negotiations
i think all my colleagues in this chamber should be pleased that the proposal came initially from parliament
it was on the council's agenda because we placed it there
the presidency took it and if not with enthusiasm it at least accepted that it offered a solution to a very real problem
let us now go forward
let us see these demonstration projects put out to tender as soon as possible
let us see construction begin
let us test this technology and let us pray that it works
