BRITAIN could begin storing a key greenhouse gas in depleted North Sea oil and gas fields within ten years as part of the Government’s strategy for tackling global warming.

A £25 million plan to develop ways of scrubbing carbon dioxide from the emissions of coal and gas-fired power stations and pumping it beneath the seabed was announced yesterday by Malcolm Wicks, the Energy Minister, to reduce the impact of fossil fuels on the climate.

If the carbon capture schemes prove successful, they could reduce greenhouse emissions from power stations by up to 85 per cent, an independent report commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry says. That is likely to prove critical to efforts to control climate change as Britain will be reliant on fossil fuels for at least the next half century.

If the Government’s target of reducing greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 is to be met, capturing much of the carbon dioxide produced by coal and natural gas will be an essential element of the strategy, Mr Wicks said. Such technologies will also be crucial in developing countries such as China and India where energy use is escalating steeply.

World energy demand is forecast to rise by about 60 per cent by 2030, with fossil fuels meeting 80 per cent of all needs and two thirds of the growth coming from developing countries. China alone is building conventional power stations with a capacity of 30 gigawatts a year, more than half Britain’s total annual electricity output.

Mr Wicks said that the investment would contribute to the national global warming strategy and give British industry opportunities in a new market for carbon capture technology. “Reaching our ambitious target means action now to support emerging technologies that will enable us to burn coal and gas more cleanly,” he said. “At the same time, with major expansion of coal-fired power generation expected in China and India, we want to put Britain at the forefront of a valuable new export opportunity.”

Carbon capture will proceed with other measures, including support for renewable electricity generation and increased energy efficiency, Mr Wicks said. He also announced a £15 million investment in hydrogen technology, which has particular potential to cut transport emissions.

Carbon capture, also called sequestration, involves passing flue gases from power stations through chemical solvents to remove the carbon dioxide. The removed gas is then compressed to liquify it, and sent by pipeline to oil or gas rigs. There, it is pumped underground into strata once filled with the fossil fuels. There have been environmental concerns that carbon dioxide stored in this way might not be stable, and might yet be released suddenly into the atmosphere, but most geologists consider the technique safe and practical.

Norway has been running a pilot sequestration project at the Sleipner field since 1996 in which more than a million tonnes of carbon dioxide have been pumped into empty oil strata in stable and sustainable fashion. The DTI is in discussions with BP about beginning a similar scheme in the Miller field in the North Sea. Officials said that such a project could be up and running by 2015.

Environmental groups welcomed the announcement, though they emphasised that carbon capture schemes could not work in isolation. Bryony Worthington, of Friends of the Earth, said: “Some coal stations are so inefficient and polluting that they should be replaced by a new generation of cleaner plants.”

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