Malcolm Wicks, the Energy Minister, was accused of recklessness yesterday for supporting the construction of a coal-fired power plant.

The Environmental Audit Select Committee said that the Government was rushing into the planned £1.5billion E.ON plant at Kingsnorth, Kent, before it had successfully developed carbon-cleaning technology.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is intended to capture the carbon produced when fossil fuels are burnt in power plants, so that it can be safely stored rather than being released into the atmosphere.

Timothy Yeo, the committee chairman, expressed deep concerns at the Government's support for coal-fired power, which he described as the dirtiest form of energy. “There are alternatives available. We are rushing into this even before you know whether we have CCS. That's what to us seems extremely dangerous.”

Although the Government hopes to have a working version of CCS by 2014, Mr Wicks admitted that there was no guarantee that it would be successfully developed. Until it was, he said, the European Trading Scheme would be an effective check on carbon emissions created by businesses.

Mr Wicks defended the use of coal in power stations as necessary. “Coal is and will continue to be, in our judgment, a vital part of the energy mix. Diversity is vital. If we don't have coal, it will bring forth an extra dash for gas. We need to think of the national security implications for that.”

Describing CCS as vital and “dear to my heart”, he said: “We are leading the world on CCS technology.”

He said that it would take hundreds of millions of pounds to develop but that the cost would be passed back to voters either as taxpayers or as utility company customers.

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