MILLIONS of tons of carbon dioxide emitted from Britain’s power stations could be pumped under the North Sea to stop it contributing to climate change, says a government report.

The ambitious “carbon capture” plan is outlined in a study to be published by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the next few weeks.

Details emerged amid preparations for a scientific conference on climate change announced by Tony Blair in preparation for Britain’s presidencies of the European Union and G8 this year.

If the DTI’s scheme works many of Britain’s coal, oil and gas-fired power stations could be “greened”, as almost all the carbon dioxide they emit would be captured before reaching the atmosphere.

The DTI study says electricity from carbon-capture power stations would cost 15-20% more, which would still make it cheaper than nuclear or renewable energy sources. A DTI source said: “Our studies show the costs of the power generated in this way are less than most forms of renewable energy, including wind power.”

Under the scheme, existing coal, oil or gas-fired power stations would be fitted with chemical plants capable of stripping carbon dioxide from their exhaust gases. New plants would have similar technologies as standard.

The gas would then be compressed and pumped through pipelines that would carry it offshore to the oil and gas fields of the North Sea, where it would be pumped underground to fill voids left by the removal of oil and gas.

In many “mature” oil fields this could pay for itself by raising the underground pressure and pushing out more oil.

Britain emits about 560m tons of carbon dioxide a year, with about a third coming from power generation. The new technology could provide an alternative to controversial “green” energy sources such as wind farms, which have provoked outright hostility in some communities.

The DTI’s interest follows reports from Mitsui Babcock, an engineering company, showing how 16 coal-fired power stations — the biggest producers of carbon dioxide — could be made “carbon neutral”.

Iain Miller, Mitsui Babcock’s chief operating officer, said carbon emissions could be cut by up to 20% simply by equipping such plants to run at higher temperature and pressures, making them more efficient. They, along with oil and gas-fired power stations, could then be fitted with carbon-capture plants, he said.

Miller, who is already planning a demonstration project, said: “It is technically feasible. It is up to the government to create the regulatory and financial framework to make it happen.”

The plan could save the country from a looming energy crisis. At least half of Britain’s coal-fired plants are due for closure by 2015 — possibly sooner — because they do not meet emission standards set by the EU’s large combustion plant directive. These plants provide nearly 20% of Britain’s electricity.

Those closures will coincide with the decommissioning of Britain’s remaining nuclear plants, which provide another 23% of the nation’s power. It means Britain must spend billions on new power stations or risk facing shortages.

The Norwegian firm Statoil has been running a carbon capture demonstration project for several years, with millions of tons of gas stored in geological formations under the ocean.

The scientific evidence for climate change will be debated at next week’s conference, which is being hosted by the Met Office in Exeter.

This week Nature, the scientific journal, will anticipate that debate with a research paper based on one of the biggest computer modelling exercises to date. The research involved 95,000 participants from more than 150 countries who downloaded free software onto their computers. This ran in the background while their computers were idle.

The experiment found that unless the world cuts its output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, global temperatures could rise by up to 6C by the end of the century.

Researchers will warn that this would make many parts of the tropics uninhabitable and destroy ecosystems worldwide.

Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, said he supports plans for carbon capture if the technology can be proven. He said: “This could extend the life of the coal industry, secure Britain’s energy supplies and help cut climate change emissions.”

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