Climate scam funded by Nuclear Industry???

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A new fleet of nuclear power stations was backed by energy secretary Ed Miliband today, as he outlined the government's plans to fast-track major energy infrastructure projects, also including "clean coal" power stations and windfarms. Six draft "national policy statements" would secure the UK's energy supply as ageing plants close, reduce carbon emissions in generating power and create jobs, he said. He also called for an overhaul of the planning system to encourage new low carbon energy developments.

A programme of up to four commercial-scale CCS demonstrations, including both pre-combustion and post-combustion capture technologies, will be funded by a new CCS Incentive. However, Miliband admitted that only two of the demonstration projects - those from Scottish Power and E.ON - are currently proceeding to the next stage of the CCS competition.

The draft policies covered:

• overarching energy policy

• coal and carbon capture and storage

• nuclear power

• renewable energy

• gas supply and storage

• electricity transmission and grid

The new nuclear power plants are scheduled to begin operating within the next decade, paving the way for the most ambitious fleet of new nuclear reactors in Europe. The 11th site, Dungeness was turned down because of the "adverse effect" it could have on the unique local ecosystem identified by Natural England, Miliband said. The government also turned down three other sites not on the original list: Kingsnorth in Kent, Owston Ferry in South Yorkshire and Druridge Bay in Northumberland.

The full list of sites designated by the government as suitable for new nuclear plants is: Sizewell, Suffolk; Hartlepool, Cleveland; Heysham, Lancashire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Braystones, Cumbria; Kirksanton, Cumbria; Wylfa Peninsula, Anglesey; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Hinkley Point, Somerset, and Bradwell, Essex.

Miliband said: "The threat of climate change means we need to make a transition from a system that relies heavily on high carbon fossil fuels, to a radically different system that includes nuclear, renewable and clean coal power. The current planning system is a barrier to this shift. It serves neither the interests of energy security, the interests of the low carbon transition, nor the interests of people living in areas where infrastructure may be built, for the planning process to take years to come to a decision."

He also reiterated plans announced earlier in the year for a new generation of coal power stations that would have to capture and store carbon (CCS) when opened. Such CCS coal power stations were criticised today by an expert in the field, who said the government's competition to build demonstration carbon capture and storage plants was "dead on its feet". Professor Stuart Hazeldine, geologist at the University of Edinburgh, said only one of three CCS projects - that proposed by Scottish Power at Longannet - is capable of delivering a full-scale demo plant by 2014.

The new planning system for large infrastructure should also help push through the government's plans for 10,000 new wind turbines, as announced in Low Carbon Transition Plan in July.

The policy statements contiunue a shift from a hands-off free market approach to energy towards greater state intervention in energy generation. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) pointed to previous delays in new energy developments, such as the six years and 340 inquiry days it took the Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk to clear the planning system. "The truth is we're not going to be able to deliver a 21st century energy system with a 20th century planning system," said Miliband. "Saying no everywhere would not be in the national interest."

The government's new planning quango, the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), which was set up earlier this year, will begin considering applications for projects from March 2010. The first applications to the commission (pdf) include plans from French company EDF for new nuclear power stations at Hinckley Point and Sizewell, plus a massive offshore wind farm by Germany's RWE Innogy at Triton Knoll, off the east coast of England. Only energy developments over 50MW onshore and 100MW offshore will be overseen by the IPC.

Grek Clark, the Conservative shadow energy and climate secretary, said his party supported the planning statements. But he said: "What we have just heard is the declaration of a National Emergency for our energy security, and the question that the Minister must answer is why did they leave it so late to act? Britain's consumers and businesses will pay through the nose for the last minute scramble he has announced today to cope with the blackouts he predicted in July."

"What we have heard, softly spoken, is the declaration of a national emergency for energy security," said Clark, and asked if Miliband would apologise for 12 years of delay in addressing UK energy policy. Miliband accused Clark of alarmism.

Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green party, said: "Bypassing the planning system in this way is bad news for democracy and for the environment. A key democratic right is for the public to have a say on how their area is developed. Decision-making about where we get our energy from, and the long-term costs associated with nuclear, should be opened up to more accountability, not less."

Friends of the Earth added it was concerned about limits on individuals' ability to comment on major projects such as new power stations, because schemes through the updated planning process will not be open to public inquiry.

Green groups and the Liberal Democrats also condemned the government's push for new nuclear power stations.

Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace's climate and energy campaign, said: "The publication of the draft nuclear national policy statement is a reminder of just how many hoops the industry has still to jump through. It shows that new nuclear is by no means a done deal. We don't need coal or nuclear, because proven green technologies such as wind and combined heat and power stations can secure Britain's energy needs, create green jobs and slash our emissions."

Liberal Democrat energy and climate change spokesman Simon Hughes said: "A new generation of nuclear power stations will be a colossal mistake regardless of where they are built. New plants in the UK have never been built without massive cost to the taxpayer and a lethal legacy of toxic waste."

Decc said the draft policy statements will be consulted on between now and 2010, when they are expected to be finalised.

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