A new Energy Bill has been proposed for the forthcoming session of Parliament as part of the Government's plans to lead the world in breakthrough clean coal technology.

The Bill would enable the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to introduce a financial mechanism to fund up to four commercial-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) demonstration plants. The first of these could be feeding cleaner energy into the grid by the middle of the next decade.

This follows the publication on 17 June of the Government's consultation document 'A framework for the development of clean coal' which sets out how the Government proposes to reconcile the need to curb emissions of carbon from future coal fired power stations with the need to maintain a secure diverse energy mix. The consultation also contains proposals for the detailed design of the financial support mechanism that will be introduced through the Energy Bill.

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Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "We're moving fast on CCS. It's a critical technology in the fight against climate change and I want the UK to lead the world with it. This Bill is about providing the finance needed for the construction of commercial-scale demonstration plants.

"Through CCS we can develop a new high tech industrial sector, we can maintain a diverse energy mix and, once deployed around the world, make a major contribution to the fight against climate change."

The proposed Energy Bill was announced in 'Building Britain's Future', published by the Prime Minister, which outlines the Government’s priorities and its draft legislative programme. This is now open for consultation before being finalised in the Queen's Speech in the autumn.

(CD/JM)